This review may contain spoilers
"In this world, it's not always about being certain of success before we take action."
All of them are died. In the ending episode, I thought it would be like 'Till the end of the moon ' but fortunately the lady called Heaven, came and revived Fan Yue, bring to Bai Shou as a gift. I really like it that at least main couple have a happy ending. I love their chemistry and hope they will get a modern drama together again. Besides as the second lead couple, I wish they can be together again as main couple. And the story of Bai Shou is about 'not to depend on others but to depend on own self ', it's really a learning and understanding topic in real life. I really appreciate Bai Lu as Bai Shou for such a self dependent and the spirit of being successful character.Was this review helpful to you?
Lost in the fog.. I can’t see this moon
Oh where do I start... I really wanted to like this drama. I got into the productions schedules when I saw the leaks of the costuming. I have never saw styling done this way, especially with the male lead. The makeup and costuming is gorgeous. The art direction behind this drama is amazing, and unfortunately.. that is pretty much the best thing about this drama.The writing is not good, it is very very lazy. In several instances the characters ask 'oh where is this guy'... 'why are we here'.. etc. Within a few minutes of Fan Yue's first appearance, the characters tell you exactly what he is. He is good looking- he is off putting.. I would have much rather they show it. The actors can only do so much when they have to spell out the plot every other line. It is just not realistic dialogue, and overall it limits what the actors can do here. It really is a shame, as the production value must have been insane for this.. but the direction and camera work is so horrible that this drama as a whole ends up looking shammy and cheap. The leaks were wonderful and I thought that the show would be more cinematic with unconventional directions style and camera work.. unfortunately whoever was behind the lens doesn't know what they are doing at all.
The directing is not good either. The first episode of this drama was one of the worst first episodes I have ever watched. I really liked the stop motion storytelling.. but again that is just the art direction. A drama is made up of many parts, and to be successful and pleasant they have to come together in harmony. The artistry is just dragging this drama the best it can, but the production team behind this lacks some sort of care. It feels cheap with the way the zoom ins happen with the demon characters, and doesn't look pleasant at all. The only bad thing about the art is that it isn't blending well together. Individually everything looks great, but together the costuming is a bit overwhelming. The makeup washed the FL up.. I am so sorry Bai Lu. She is a pretty girl, here I don't understand what the makeup is supposed to be doing for her other than making her look washed out.
The characters relationships are inorganic and are again just told to you. The character says he doesn't like this guy.. cut scene and that guy says why. I feel like I am being treated like a child and that the flashy and colors are just there to be stimulating visually. The sets are so over the top that I can't find myself being grounded in any part, they leave the whole world feeling congested. Like I know that the sets are made and the characters can't go elsewhere because anything organic isn't the set.. I understand it is xianxia, but have something grounded in reality please. I see the green screen and the keying and mats, I remember watching a trailer and thinking .. 'is this really it'. I thought in post production things would be cleaned up.. guess not.
So at least tell a captivating story. Here the story is generic and being spoon fed. The chemistry isn't effective because of the quality of the script, it feels forced. I've also seen a lot of physical violence between the leads and wonder how in the world I am supposed to actually want the two to be in a touching yet heartbreaking romance. The answer is I can't. The opening is beautiful.. but at some point I watch and think 'huh'. I think that they did in fact just show the best parts of the drama.. and every single episode I watch the first minute and then have some sort of shock moving onto the quality of the actual drama.
There is nothing for me to look forward to or to wonder about because the opening spoils it all. I wonder if this should've just been shoved into a corner and just show me the opening 40 times in a row and I'll understand that more than a whole duration. I don't think it's worth it to watch, I put on for flashy colors. I need to get through a bad drama to see if it has any resilience.. but this isn't looking good. I hate to beat a dead horse here but watch Blossom if you want quality, if you want Xianxia quality watch Ashes of Love.
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A really captivating drama with amazing cast and almost good plot
So where to start cause ALOT happens in this drama!!! some of the sub plots are story of their own and if it was other dramas they would probably stick with one or two and make a drama out of them but here you see the characters go from place to place uncovering new stories and parts of themselves. Different set designs and costumes really elevated the overall engagement you would have with the plot and the ost was such a gem!!! The cast has real chemistry and they nailed their characters, I knew they’re really good actors but they outdid themselves. Probably the only problem and reason I don’t give it all 10 is cause of last few episodes, it was the best xianxia until it took a turn and became like many other dramas, the ending didn’t seem rushed it just wouldn’t satisfy you as much as their journey up until the did, when you watch a drama with good actors and plot you do expect a good ending for all characters, I’m not saying keeping everyone alive and giving them HE but still you can manage to make the ending less like other dramas with lots of cgi and death, coming back alive and etc, overall I absolutely enjoyed watching it and would recommend if anyone wants to watch a good fantasy drama. But I would really like to see Bailu and Ruipeng in a modern or republic era drama, if given a good plot I’m sure they will nail it.Was this review helpful to you?
It was better than expected...
The first time I saw the materials when the drama had just finished filming, I honestly thought the project would do bad. Especially because I wasn't a fan of the set and couldn't envision what the production team were planning to do with it, and also because the few costumes that were seen from the reuters where too extravagant for my taste. Also wasn't sure how well the male lead will do or if the female lead Bai Lu could really lead this Xianxia project.I love watching Bai Lu's dramas as I find them entertaining, even when I watch them hoping to scrutinise everything, I still enjoyed them. But for this project, I wasn't sure I would enjoy it, I was actually very skeptical to give it a chance. But just like her other dramas, I went in hoping to find something I could scrutinize, as her dramas always attract negative comments. But interestingly, from the first episode to the last episode, I enjoyed every bit of it. Definitely better than I had expected.
However, even if I definitely enjoyed the play and honestly thought it was done well, from the plot, storyline, costume, dialogues, line delivery down to sets (I hated the first time), I think there were still some things that needed improving. So here are some points that I thought were weakness and strengths of the drama;
Weakness:
1. BaiLu: Although her lines have improved tremendously, she still needs to work on her lines, especially her intonation (Which it seems she's fully aware of). And I do hope I get to see her in dramas where she doesn't always have to cry, She's a good actress and has the potential to be better than this, but if she has to cry for every project or if every project has to have some angst or sad scenes, it will be natural for audiences to say she's always doing the same thing (although she necessarily isn't always doing the same thing).
2. As for the male lead, the second leads and the other casts, I believe they all did excellent. But the male lead and the second leads had an issue with focusing their eyes. Sometimes they mistakenly looked at the camera when they shouldn't and sometimes because the camera wasn't necessarily on them, it seemed they went off character.
3. The CGI, I don't know if it's because there were so many people involved, it was quite visible that some special effects didn't come out well. For the sets and props, although not bad, but wasn't necessarily the best either (even if I liked them), most of the props clearly were fake, especially the flowers, and the head peices, which automatically gives the audiences the impression that it was a cheap production.
4. The way the original soundtracks were used in some scenes were off. Even if I enjoyed all the soundtracks, I felt the overuse of them in scenes that didn't require them may have weakened the audiences viewership.
Strengths:
1. All the actors were good at expressing complex emotions making it more enjoyable for viewing. When it was a sad scene, the all acted very well with their eyes and facial expressions. When it was a confrontation scene or a happy scene or a romantic scene, even without a dialogue, it was easy to understand and that made it very enjoyable for me.
2. The dialogues were written so well. They put some serious thoughts into every words said by the actors. And I love how there was a message in every dialogue.
3. The action scenes were superb. It wasn't awkward, not one bit. The fight choreography if you've watched the drama you'd notice were a bit tricky, but every actor (even the supporting actors) did exceptionally well. I was extremely impressed.
4. The costumes: I don't think I need to elaborate on this point, as we can all tell how visually pleasing all the costumes looked. The most impressive thing about the costumes for me is the details put into the costumes of every clan and sect.
5. The sets and probs: although I mentioned it as a weakness, I also think it is a strength of the drama. Every set and probs seems to have been carefully prepared. I especially love the fact that it didn't give the typical feeling of Chinese Xianxia sets, and the fact that it helps the audiences understand that it is purely fictional. Which I believe was what they were going for.
6. The music: If you haven't listened to playlist of the soundtracks, I think you should go and check it out. Everyone of them is perfect, just perfect. And the instrumental soundtracks used to highlight the mood of each scenes were also used well. I think it made the scenes more enjoyable.
7. The Plot and Storyline: Usually when watching dramas, it is quite typical for the plot to slow down or the story to go off track, which sometimes goes completely off track, but that definitely wasn't the case with this drama. If you watch the drama you'd understand my point better. There were some complaints about the plot not solely being about the female lead, or about her no longer pursuing her cultivation, but I feel genuine viewers will understand that the journey of trying to acquire each thought was basically the female lead's character's journey of cultivation. The plot twists were particularly satisfying. I also loved that in every journey to acquire a thought, each stories were told beautifully and carefully. I also loved how they explain every process and actions taken by any of the characters.
In conclusion, Moonlight Mystique is a well produced drama. It sure has it's weaknesses, but it is not a bad, boring drama or would it be a waste of your time. You are bound to find something you like, If you're genuinely just looking for entertainment and not to spread hate or scrutinize or find faults. It's production definitely may not be big as the other dramas it competed with, and may lack somethings that those dramas had, but it definitely isn't a flop project not was it a failure.
Thank You
P.s (It is a very long paragraph, but if you've read it to the end, you did well)
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Amazing cp
Engaging storyline, beautiful people, not boring second cp, TOP NOTCH ost…oh, the makeup, I am so in love with the eye makeup..lmao.First cp with such riveting chemistry. I was also invested in second cp’s story, and the backstories spanning 60k years.
Never thought I’d say this but this is one of my favourites of Bai Lu’s pairing (forgive me, LYX). Regardless, my queen has had amazing chemistry with the other leads of all her dramas that I’ve watched and LYX is still right up there. SOKP with ZLH is very close second to these two.
ARP is such a revelation to me, haven’t watched any of his other work before. Loved DLW..last but never least, Bai Lu, my queen of queens, never let me down, she’s so clutch, appreciate all her hard work.
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Good drama
My ratings for the series out of ten:Recommended series: 10
Acting: 9.75
Directing: 9
Music: 10
Chemistry between the main characters: 10
Dialogues: 10 It was very meaningful, the series helped personal growth 🩵
✨️ It's worth watching again (I think I'll watch it many times)
Overall series rating 9.75 Highly recommended ✅️
It's one of those beautiful series that stays in your memories💘🌈 I laughed and cried with it and learned
It's a series that I eagerly waited for the new episode every day.
I liked the characters in the series, each of whom had their own story and you could relate to them.
The chemistry between the couple in the series was great.
I liked the process of the series
The dialogues were great and it showed personal growth, that is love, sacrifice, goodness, selflessness, and many good and bad truths...
⚘️ A memorable series that I love and will love ⚘️
Don't get tired of the series team for such a beautiful series 👏🏻
I will definitely watch this series again 🌸 because I will definitely miss it 😭
✅️Recommended series
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This review may contain spoilers
Excellent except for a predictable ending
This drama scored well on many hygiene factors: beautiful costumes, spectacular special effects, an excellent cast, handsome male lead, pretty second female lead, a popular female lead, lovely music. The story was intriguing - it's was like an onion, you just keep peeling layers after layers to get to the core. Secrets were being revealed one at a time to finally give the complete picture. Aside from the mysteries and secrets, you got to see the typical dramatic spice-up - love triangle, jealousy, saving the damsel in distress... The main male and female lead were suspicious of each other but they eventually fell in love.However, the ending was somewhat predictable - all in line with today's trend. So if you watch enough of Chinese drama in recent years, you would know how it would end. In some way, it took the shine off the drama.
Bai Shuo was the second daughter to the Governor. When she was a child, her sister and she were almost killed by a demon and was saved by a god. She promised to repay him. Motivated by this, she strived to become an immortal. Mistaking Fan Yue who was the demon leader as an immortal, she sought his help to attain immortality. Chong Zhao was Bai Shuo's childhood fiance and was determined to protect his fiance from the demon leader. Together, they uncovered the secrets of the ancient gods, how they were related to them, and the divine responsibilities they were entrusted with.
The drama had some major flaws. A fraudster priestess was passed off as the personification of heaven law to bring the couple together. This was absurd, distasteful and unconvincing. There are already enough gullible people in this world without the screenwriter introducing such stupid ideas into people's head. A fraudster should stay a fraudster in the story - better still get punished accordingly.
And what is today's trend? The second lead/s die; the hero or heroine dies as well but get resurrected. That is typically how Chinese drama ends these days.
Overall, I say, this drama was still one of the best fantasy Chinese drama. Debating whether to give it a full 10 or 9.5, I decided to give it a 9.5. As with a lot of recent dramas, the drama had an excellent start but somehow tired out in the last couple of episodes. For that and the predictable ending, I took 0.5 points off.
If you are not a drama addict as I am and have not watched as many Chinese dramas as I have, this could be an excellent drama to follow.
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The chemistry
THE KISSING SCENESSS!!! OMG THEIR CHEMISTRY IS SOOOO😫😫🔥🔥 and their acting is greattt, not to mention their outfits!! I don't rlly have time to watch it rn but I'm hoping we get a happy endingg.Was this review helpful to you?
No one willingly stays in hell
TL;DR Watch for the supporting cast, stunning visuals, hauntingly-beautiful soundtrack, and bring your tissue boxes.For a drama that is all about highlighting how wrong it is to see the world as black and white, MM really shot itself in the foot when it became the very thing it sought to critique. For a story with so much emotion and heart at its core, it ended up feeling like a nothing burger as empty as its sets, devoid of life.
STORY: The problem with writing a story as grand and magical and fable-esque as MM is that there's A TON of responsibility on the shoulders of the leads, both as written characters and actors performing those written characters. When EVERY SINGLE supporting role is outshining your leads, how do you expect the audience to care when the final ten episodes are only about the two leads? When Fan Yue has died and come back to life ten times, there is no emotional impact left to be made on the audience. When Bai Shuo is protected by heaven itself, no one is worried about her failing or losing her life because we know it will all work out for her. It always does. Even if she's not able, every other supporting role will bend over backwards to get her a win. This is great if you're all about the 'good triumphs evil' shtick, but not when you're trying to be poignant with your writing.
You know who did leave an impact? The story of Qi Feng, A Xi and Chong Zhao. You know what they had in common? Flaws. Flaws are what make a character come to life and grow on the journey that is their story. They were all such layered characters, each suffering in their own regard and making costly mistakes as a result. Each got some sad excuse for a redemption ultimately, but I won't go into it. The point is, making your main characters perfect will make them boring across a 40 episode run. Aside from gaining and losing spiritual power and falling in love with each other in every timeline possible, what growth did Fan Yue and Bai Shuo have as characters? SHORT SPOILER AHEAD, SKIP TO THE ACTING SECTION. You know what would have been gaggy? If Fan Yue never came back and Jing Yuan was stuck in that body and Bai Shuo had to fight the entire final battle on her own knowing that she's lost her love forever, is now a mortal without the Contemplation Stone and could die any moment. Just like how the other characters' deaths were so permanent, if there was any inkling of permanent consequences on the part of the leads, the drama (in my eyes at least) would easily be ratable as so much higher. Writers need to stop fearing about making their lead characters messy. Messy characters make for the best, most memorable watches.
ACTING: Since completing the drama I saw a ton of clips of Ao Rui Peng on my TikTok FYP and honestly, I should've seen this coming when he slayed as Mu and even the early Jing Yuan that his range is limited to characters that emote outwardly, have a playful demeanor and are more expressive. While he tries his damnedest to bring Fan Yue (a much more somber character) to life, he struggles and his acting is quite one note. If I had to compare, I'd say the temperament of Fan Yue is similar to that of SFL Fu Ling, and everyone and their mother knows Dai Lu Wa went viral for her incredible micro expressions. That is something that's absent in ARP's portrayal. He has gorgeous eyes but they can't hard carry everything else. In contrast, Chang Hua Sen with the most inconsistently written character of Chong Zhao outshined him in the acting department, especially visible during his scenes with Bai Lu.
As for Bai Lu, I'd been watching her since her debut, and she thrives in powerful, badass roles and she was okay here for the most part. The problem with her acting is that she performs like she's delivering a solo monologue, there's only her in the scene, and no one else. This is cool when the character is LZY from The Legends but Bai Shuo is just an ordinary girl with extraordinary responsibilities thrust upon her shoulders. When we need vulnerability from her we get an ironclad, "nothing can hurt me, I'm so badass" performance instead. There's no consistency in her progression from scene to scene, it's like it all takes place in a vacuum in her brain. For example, Bai Shuo just got done crying her eyes out at her father's funeral. Next scene, she's joking with Old Turtle and like I get it, grief comes in waves but your face has no sign of it? I hate to bring Dai Luwa back into this but gosh she's such a good actress, you can see everything in her face, the scene preceding the current one, and even hints of what's to come, a huge example of which is her scene sitting atop a rooftop watching chaos unfold in Ning An city as she holds Bai Shuo behind a barrier.
So when you have 3-5 episode character arcs (Ling Long x Rong Xian, Mu Jiu x Tian Huo, A Wu x A Qi) out-chemistrying the leads, not to mention, A LITERAL SECOND CP THAT IS HOTTER THAN FIRE AND UNLIKE ANYTHING WE'VE SEEN RECENTLY, you're really setting your leads up for failure both in the story and acting department. Bring back auditioning for prominent roles please.
MUSIC: 10/10 No notes. It haunts me and will haunt me for a while I fear. Sa Dingding is that girl and all the other artists were also incredible.
REWATCH VALUE: There's a very retro, kdrama-esque fairytale charm about this story, especially in the mini arcs situated in each new region. I'd say up to episode 33, the drama (although not without flaws) was pretty solid, but the XY, JY, ML arc really highlighted the cracks in the story, rushing things, introducing the most random bits of info and making characters drop dead like flies. If I were writing this drama, I'd add 3-5 more episodes, to flesh out the past, give more time for Fan Yue and Bai Shuo to interact so that their romance doesn't feel rushed, and flesh out some other characters to make them less one-dimensional (cough cough: the eternals, every single moment they were on screen was a waste of valuable footage space on the cameraman's SD card).
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MOONLIGHT MYSTIQUE THE WAY YOU ARE
moonlight mystique has aired its last episode today. what a fun ride.basically i don't like xianxia because of the cliche storyline, so my expectation for the drama was already low. my motivation to watch is only because there is chang huasen in it (that's my baby by the way), and even if there is chang huasen, if the plot is not to my taste then i will drop the drama no matter how much i like chang huasen.. this is a sign that i really don't like xianxia that much..
but, the interesting surprise that i received while watching MM is even though there are still some cliches but overall the entire plot is very satisfying.. of course what makes me keep watching is because there is no trope of "sacrificing oneself for the world" or "ridiculous and prolonged misunderstanding" or "main leads who are very easily fooled" so far the main leads (bai shou and fan yue) are very smart.. if there is a problem they will communicate it and immediately resolve the misunderstanding, no one is wishy washy and no one is easily fooled.. they are both very smart.
For the chemistry of the two couples, both between Bai Shou Fan Yue and Fu Ling Chong Zhao, they are very good.. I can feel their chemistry and get carried away with all the dynamics of love that they show... and as I expected, our second couple, Fuling and Chong Zhao, unfortunately did not succeed in getting HE (at least we got 1 kiss scene even though it was bittersweet) it's okay I expected it from the start and prepared my heart.. the cure is only our main couple ends happily (hooray 🥳) my heart is healed plus there is their wedding scene in the special episode ☺️ (ohh ps. Chang Huasen how many more times do you want to fail to get married in a costume drama 😬)
And of course, we give the biggest applause to our four main leads: Bai Lu, Ao Ruipeng, Dai Luwa, and Chang Huasen 👏 they managed to portray their characters perfectly and managed to make me carried away and cry many times.. special mention to Bai you who every time I see him cry I will also cry...
And finally to my beloved baby Chang Huasen, I am very proud of you. Through this drama you have proven again that you are always an excellent actor and continue to develop and not just walk in place.. all the scenes when you "break down" really make me carried away.. keep going
Ps. Lastly, I hope to see Chang Huasen and Dai Luwa play a costume drama again but this time as the main leads and main couple ☺️
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Probably the Best Fantasy Drama of 2025!
It was easily the best drama of 2025 for me! The acting of all characters were on point..it couldn't have been more perfect. The storyline was epic and engaging. If you have ever watched "The love between fairy and devil" and loved it then you will love it too.The most important thing is the FMC was NOT DUMB. She used her brain in everything (which I personally like in dramas..well no one likes a dumb FMC..do we?). Oh, and the female characters together were on so good..I am still drooling over them.
I surely won't get over this drama for a long time!! Please Please go and watch it if you haven't already
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