Moonlight Mystique

I absolutely love this drama

I just finished watching Moonlight Mystic, and I can’t stop thinking about how amazing it was! The story had me hooked from the start with its mix of mystery, romance, and fantasy. It’s so well-written, with twists that kept me guessing and emotional moments that really hit home.
Bailu was absolutely stunning in this drama. Her acting felt so real, and she brought so much depth to her character. But honestly, the entire cast deserves praise. Everyone did such a great job, and their chemistry made the relationships feel so genuine.
What I loved most was how the show balanced everything so perfectly—there’s drama, heartfelt moments, and even a little humor. If you’re looking for a drama that will keep you entertained and move you at the same time, I highly recommend Moonlight Mystic!

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Had the potential but something was missing. Second couple stole the spotlight.

This drama is about the female lead who is seeking immortality and gets entangled with the male lead, a Demon Lord, when she unexpectedly absorbs his contemplation stone. Bound by fate, together they embark on a journey to collect all five contemplations: kindness, killing, love, hate and greed, while in the process revealing past secrets and forgotten memories.

POSITIVE:
- Second couple stole the spotlight. Their chemistry was great and their relationship developed beautifully.
- Queen Bai Lu. Her acting was on a totally new level and worth the praise.
- Healthy main’s relationship. The drama stirred clear from the typical misunderstanding trope.
- Second female lead was captivating to watch. I loved her acting performance and how her story and character was written. She was hands down the best part of the drama.
- Vicious villains that are real villains with cool backstories. This was definitely one of the highlights of the drama.
- Well written brother and sister’s relationship. One of the best bits of the drama.
- Lots of kiss scenes (for a cdrama).
- Balance between sweet and angsty vibes.
- Captivating OST that elevated the drama (except one big flaw from the production).
- Nice CGI (at least for the most part).
- Resentment arc was the best, followed by the Divine Realm arc.

NEGATIVE:
- Male lead issue. I love the actor but unfortunately I couldn’t fall in love with his character. I felt like he didn’t have the domineering presence of a Demon Lord that I was expecting. His aura was just too sweet. He tried his best but his strength lies more in being playful and cute rather than threatening. His character also felt more of a love interest than a well fleshed out male lead. Many times, he was written as very weak, in favor of making the female lead appear stronger. The most annoying part was towards the end, when he repetitively kept “dying” and coming back.

- Main couple issue. I couldn’t get emotionally invested, despite loving the actors. Even though they were nice to watch, I felt their chemistry was more of friends than lovers. Their last two kisses, though, looked visually really nice.

- Overused OST. I totally LOVE the main song but it was used in literally every episode, in every scene which made it feel less impactful and just cheap. The main song should have been used only for the major emotional moments between the main leads, not for everyone and everything.

- Visuals issue. I have mixed feelings about the set designs, costumes and CGI. Sometimes they looked really good and I was definitely impressed but other times it was too colourful and tacky. The green screen scenes looked too digital and made the drama cheap for me. Even though the director had toned down the blinding lights (SOKP), there were other issues that made the drama lose its quality.

OVERALL:
I feel like the plot of the drama didn’t follow the usual xianxia route which gave it a fresh take but at the same time, it wasn’t executed that well. Collecting all the contemplations felt repetitive at times even though there were some good twists along the way. The main couple lacked the spark but the red flag second couple kind of made up for it. There are some really impactful moments in the drama that made me emotional but at the same time I always felt something was missing. In conclusion, this drama was a mix of hit and miss. It wasn't bad but it didn't become a favourite of mine. But if you love xianxia, I still recommend to try it out.

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Talking is overrated

I have so many problems with this one. First it was the ML. No matter how you look at it Ao Rui Peng doesn't have the aura of a powerful demon Lord. I don't think he is a bad actor but this is a character that, for now, it is not for him. Let it be said that i blame the script in part too because Fan Yue was to soft of a character in two second but still, i don't think he fits in here.

And with that first point, came the second: They don't have any chemistry whatsoever. I never throught i could actually see Bai Lu not having chemistry with someone but well, here we are. They looked more than friends and not even one of their many love declarations (So many, because, why express things in different ways when you can say the same dialogue over and over right? 🙄🙄🙄) got to me. I didn't feel anything about them so the drama lost the mian point for me.

But let's get in the biggest problem of the drama, the writting. I think there is a good story hidden somewhere in here but the way they told it was a complete mess. Everything is narrated, there is nothing we see because of the action of the characters. The dialogue is also used to cover future plot holes (Like they need to let us know the divine stone won't protect Bai Shuo anymore so his master tell us why in a very long and pointless way that break the flow of the scene. When we could saw it after with a little comment).

Xianxias are normally tragic. I don't have a problem with a sad ending if it is justified (Fangs of fortune, for example, couldn't have any other ending that fits better). But the writters of this one decided that there wasn't anything more important that the Main Couple being together, seems they consider that a happy ending. So they decide to kill every single character as plot devices to get to that ending.

Bai Xu is suddenly the divinity bow that can kill Mo Li. I actually LOL with this. They discovered when she died so...if she didn't die, for whatever reason, we will never found the bow? all of them die? what kind of stupid plot twist is this? Only to condemn Fu Ling to the beginning to die, i guess to pay for sins that she isn't resposible for 😒😒😒😒

Tian Huo died because her blood could fix the arrow for the bow. I don't want to say a lot about this because i don't really remember the thing with the sword and her blood and all that (She make a lot of exposition about this point of course but i was out at this point) but really how convenient.

So we get to the final battle with the villain and, yes finally! Mo Li is a great character completely prepared for this battle, as he should be. So Chong Zhao sacrifice himself to give them a chance. Why i don't like this, i think this was actually on point for the character and a fit ending for him. But Mo Li is ready and his heart is still there, beating. I was like...ok now shoot the arrow to the heart right? problem fixed! NOP.

The writters remembered something "Didn't in xianxias one of the Main Leads died to came back later? damn, we need to fix this" So, for reason no one really knows the necessity of, Faun Yue gets the heart inside his body and that is when Bai Shuo shoot him and everything ends, with Bai Shuo alone 🤡.

If you think this is bad, let's pay attention to how Fan Yue gets back. Heaven invoques Bai Shuo to the hidden moon sea and she commments about sacrificing everyone for the greater good so Heaven said:

"Those who died for the great cause, will eventually return, in another way"

Cue Fan Yue coming back exactly as he went out 🤡🤡🤡.

It is super funny how, in the special episode, Fan Yue said that it is sad that their friends can't be at their wedding and i was like "Well, all of them are dead LOL".

Ok this was a rant, but i have to be fair and talk about the good thing this drama have: Chong Zhao/Mo Li. What a fantastic character and, yes, he was actually great developed. Chong Zhao was a morally greay character from begining to end and i love him for it. In the later episodes they keep trying (By the dialogue of the character of course lol) how righteous and good he was but he killed lots of Eternals without blinking an eye just because he was undercover. And he was possesive with Bai Shuo till he focus change to Fu Ling. Mo Li, his villain counterpart, was a great one too. A crazy and possesive villain like no other who was always two steps ahead of our heroes. In reality, the only one who almost defeat it was Chong Zhao and that was a fantastic decision from the team.

Chang Hua Sen was a discovery for me and i felt in love completely: Good acting and good visuals, what is not to love? 😍😍😍😍

Of course Bai Lu was as good as ever, specially in the emotional scenes. My mind compared the end of this one with the end of Story of kunning palace and well...she was great in both but here something was clearly missing.

Will i recommend it? No. sadly, not even Bai Lu could save this one 😢😢😢

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Perfect

Damn... I've just finished this drama and I already want to watch again and probably will cuz I don't think I'll find something better anytime soon.
Moonlight Mystique has me hooked from the 1st ep. I'm big fan of Bai Lu acting but it was the 1st time for me watching Ao Rui Peng and damn - he delivered and I can't wait to see his upcoming productions.
I'm not even sure where to start with this review cuz I loved everything - story, acting, music, costumes and scenography - all of it was top-notch and memorable.

Nevertheless, the most important thing about Moonlight Mystique is that it's the most wholesome wuxia drama I've seen. Ofc I haven't seen all of them, probably even missed some popular ones, but with other ones I've already watched I always struggled with one thing - their plot starts to drag on in 2nd half and leads encounters one conflict after another, drifting apart and being unable to properly communicate and choosing to suffer alone. BUT you won't find this here and is the thing I love the most about this drama.
Bai Shou and Fan Yue, even when starting as enemies, are pretty honest with each other - they don't avoid talking about their needs, feelings, fears and doubts. Their journey is far from easy one, but they always face every life-and-death situation together, never doubting themselves and their relationship. They both grow, not only as a couple, but also as individuals, bringing the best in each other.
Besides really healthy relationship between our leads I want to say that chemistry between them is mind-blowing - I swear, this drama has the most beautiful, passionate and heartbreaking kissing scene I've ever seen. I literally could see all their emotions and I think it's my favourite scene from whole drama and damn, Bai Shou really rocked in this, showing her inner strength despite all circumstances.

Other thing I love about this drama is that it shows that world it's not only black and white - the biggest sinner can found compassion and kindness in their heart, the good person can went astray and turn villain. Destiny isn't predetermined, we choose our path and who we want to become. In Moonlight Mystique we meet many morally grey characters and learn that not everything is as simple as it looks at the 1st glance.

I'm not good with writing long reviews and I can't exactly put my thoughts into words, but I would like to encourage everyone to give this drama a shot. It's really beautiful, touching and interesting from the beginning till the end - defo becoming my top one, so just watch it and I hope you will love it as I do!

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A heartwarming, adventurous story with the perfect amount of romance!

Having watched TTEOM before, I wasn't really expecting this story to hit me so hard. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS DRAMA.

Reasons why I would rate this a solid 10/10:
1. FAN YUE!!! I wasn't expecting his character to be so different from the usual 'demons' and 'grey leads' of dramas of this genre. He's not born to be a demon king, he fought for his position to become powerful and seek revenge. He has not given up his compassion to sound badass and powerful. He's compassionate, caring, and loving along with being powerful. *MUUUAHHHH*
2. The story is very engaging. Every episode had a different story to tell, every mission made sense and all the cameo roles were so nicely used. Love how they connected dots throughout the drama.
3. THE CHEMISTRY!!!! I don't have words to describe how much I love the chemistry between all the couples. I genuinelyyyyyyy hope they are paired again in different dramas!
4. Platonic ships are not weak. All the platonic ships made sure I was crying throughout the show. Love how they focused on the platonic ships for both Bai Shuo and Fan Yue and didn't restrict it to just Bai Shuo's family.
5. There's a lot of trauma, heartbreak and death here but they are essential to the plot. It doesn't feel like the writers killed everyone for fun.
6. Acting!! I LOVE YOU ARP!!! And ofc, Bailu is a star in all her dramas. (but sorry bailu, i love ARP more here ;-))
7. VFX is amazing. Doesn't seem heavy on the eyes. In fact, adds up to the cinematography and aesthetics of the drama.
8. Great costumes and styling. Beware of falling in love with the lovely faces!

Points where i feel the drama is low:
1. Hate the sets. Especially the Unbridled Pavilion.

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A great Xianxia : one of the best series of 2025

PLOT: The FL child was saved by an immortal. Since then she wants to become "eternal". Her sister disappeared a few years later. 10 years later, the FL meets the powerful demon king, master of the Bright Moon Palace, Fan Yue. With the ML's help, she will collect the "emotion stones" to activate her power (and try to save the ML). But the forces of evil (Hidden Demon) want to conquer the world.

+++ The CL with Bai Lu & Ao Rui Peng is awesome!!
+++ All the actors are excellent.
+++ Great CGI, direction, fighting scenes (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
+++ superb cinematography.

=> Just excellent (ღ’ᴗ’ღ)
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PLOT: La FL enfant a été sauvée par un immortel. Depuis elle veut devenir "eternal". Sa sœur a disparu qq années + tard. 10 ans + tard elle rencontre le puissant roi démon, maître du palais de la lune brillante, Fan Yue. Avec son aide et celle de ses assistants, elle va collecter les "pierres d'émotions" pour activer son pouvoir (et tenter de sauver le ML). Mais les forces du mal (Hidden Demon) veulent conquérir le monde.

+++ Le CL avec Bai Lu & Ao Rui Peng, est génial !!
+++ Tous les acteurs sont excellents.
+++ TOP CGI, réalis°, fighting scenes (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
+++ cinématographie superbe.

=> Just excellent ( ღ’ᴗ’ღ )

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Xianxia drama with a fresh taste

Just finished this drama, and I have to say I am really happy with the story and, especially, the ending. There are many good novels turned into bad dramas lately in xianxia genre, so this is really a nice surprise.

Now lets talk about the cast:

Bai Lu: not much to say about her because I don’t doubt her quality, love this girl since Lu Zhao Yao in “The Legends”, and I’ve been watching almost all of her costume dramas and never got disappointed.

Ao Rui Peng: I am not too familiar with his works, first time saw him as Yan Yan in “A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College”. He was perfect as a goofy Lei Wu Jie but I didn’t expect he would be such a cold ruthless demon king with a side of romance and VERY HANDSOME, and he did good. I hope people recognized his talents now and we’ll see him more 😊 I know he has a lot of upcoming dramas – I hope they will release Coroner's Diary soon!

Dai Lu Wa: cute. I remember her as a spoil sister in Lost You Forever – but in MM Fu Ling was beyond cruel and I somewhat expected she is the missing Bai Xi but didn’t expect her to be the missing weapon. She is just too beautiful to hate haha maybe that’s why Chong Zhao can’t hate her even before he recognized her as Bai Xi.

Chang Hua Sen : from jealous crazy disciple (A Journey to Love), then I thought crazy emperor in Are You The One, then the eternal / Hidden Lord. I don’t think he was ruthless enough in MM – but also hope we’ll see him more. I don’t see his next roles as 1st ML so hopefully he’ll get that soon.

Now the story. I love how this is not another typical xianxia story – those with many tribulations and scheming. Lots of heart breaking moments, but I am glad I didn’t have to throw my slippers at anyone (remember Wu Han???). And speaking of ALP, though both ALP and MM novels are from the same writer and somewhat connected, the dramas are not related. I heard due to copy right, they changed the name from Yue Mi to Bai Shuo, and Tian Qi to Fan Yue, and I’m glad they did because the stories happened at the different timeline and different realms. Keeping the names differently make me not to keep trying to connect MM story to ALP story.
When people ask me which one is my fave among ALP, TLI, or MM, I think the three of them are just different stories. Probably TLI and ALP feels more connected, but I think MM is a complete separate story. While ALP is a great drama, the story line is a very common xianxia story. ALP is more complex and you might need to watch multiple times to fully understand the emotional connections with the characters.
MM feels, fresh and different, easier to understand. I also think the chemistry, unexpectedly, is really strong between Bai Shuo and Fan Yue.

The ending, phew! The novel was unfinished during the drama was made, I am glad it is a HE, maybe another five second ending, but that that one extra helps with the closure. Yes other characters died, but I’m so tired of watching supporting roles live but main roles died. Besides, like what Tian Huo said, all of them have their purpose.

If there is one thing I don’t like about this drama, it’s the blood 🩸 🩸spitting scene. Urgh, the way they puke out a bucket out of nowhere – not even spitting anymore. Is this a new thing???

In closing, if you're looking for a sweet fantasy drama without much heart wrenching, this is the one.

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A beautifully tragic, emotionally satisfying fantasy.

🌙 Moonlight Mystique pulled me in more and more as it went. The romance between Bai Shuo and Fan Yue didn’t start with fireworks, but it grew into something really touching. They genuinely care for each other, trust one another’s choices, and consistently put the other first. Their tenderness hit me hard, and the kisses? Gorgeous.

The plot device of collecting five emotions didn't excite me on its own, but it gave us a fun tour through different realms—each with their own culture, rules, and emotional stakes. I loved the way good and evil weren’t tied to species or realms; gods, demons, and mortals could all be deeply flawed or deeply noble. The finale gave us the happy ending I wanted, even if the wedding scene felt rushed and a few loose threads stayed loose.

Visuals? Stunning. OST? Beautiful. Acting? No complaints. Chang Huasen in particular was impressive in being able to master sweet Eternal and chaotic Hidden Lord. I didn’t expect to care as much as I did, but by the end, I was fully in my feelings (and crying for everyone who died along the way. :c Give me my Mu Jiu back!)

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when Labubu came to the scene?

firstly I would like to say that I absolutely love the actors and it’s pure joy to watch them. for me the story, which was very involving and interesting from the beginning started to be an absurd in the middle:/ what happened, what the script writer thought? all of the sudden the Fox insists on getting married and proving his true love and another minute, appears to be the saved child that sacrifices himself just minutes after finding the love of his life. I’m sorry but it’s just a joke to me and then he becomes Labubu Fox version that the loved woman cherishes and says such a pity he died just to save Bai Lu. what’s worse the fox leaves recorded telegram just like in Star Wars telling her it’s not a problem and that he is ok doing that as he already lived his experiences 😵‍💫 I mean after that literally I had to see the ending as I guessed- everyone sacrificed himself for Bai Lu. thank you for the epilog that we can see happily ever after because boy it would be dreadful if not happening some kind of reward after all this. the part that everyone that dies with like a “smile” on their faces just for her is not real. I mean, I really love these actors but I just couldn’t handle it for this. it started to be repetitive and because of that boring. nevertheless I love the chemistry between ML and FL and wish them all the best and hope to see soon in some new drama.

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Warning: this is a stand alone drama.

As my headline says, this drama is not for someone who wantd tian qi and yuemi to reunite. It's completely different from the original plot. I can't also say that they exist in the same universe of ALP but the characters of jing yuan and xing yue is definitely inspired from tian qi and yuemi.

On the other note, I had a little expectation from Moonlight Mystique due to changes of plot and names. However, it didn't disappoint me AT ALL. Bai shou remained true to herself and didn't let the Divine Mantle to take over her head. She knew she and xing yue are not the same person. She has her own strength and so does xing yue, same goes with Fan yue. That's what makes them a powerful couple.

The cast also did so great with their acting, they're so on point. Bai lu nailed her character once again✨ Though the cgi for hidden power is quite funny to me lol. All in all it's a great drama, just don't associate it with the original characters of ALP or you will be disappointed.

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