Very entertaining!!
I finished this in one go oh my god!! This series is really amazing I didn't expect to like a drama of this genre, I've never liked this genre before but this series is really different, the soundtrack is really touching and dreamy, the costumes are top notch and a feast for the eyes, the makeup, the cinematography... everything was perfect, this series opened the door for me to watch this genre more, now I understand all the hype and TikTok edits about this series and I'm glad I found these edits otherwise I would never have known about such a masterpiece, and i really liked the characters that appear in each episode they all left a touch and a deep feeling inside me but I didn't like fuling at all she is really annoying I skipped almost all of her scenes and the second lead they played on my nerves, but overall I loved this series 10/10.Was this review helpful to you?
Meh at average, “alright” at best
Lost in a haze of purple everywhere… loved Bai Lu as usual! The plot and story unfortunately was not enough to keep me engaged and found myself skipping a lot. Perhaps the story along the likes of Love between Fairy and Devil or even Til the end of the Moon have had me interested enough to rewatch……….. unfortunately just not this one. I do however, will admit the acting is amazingWas this review helpful to you?
A Mixed Bag
It had all the makings of a captivating series, but unfortunately, it fell short of expectations. While it certainly had its moments, the overall execution left much to be desired.First, let’s talk about the premise. The concept of a mystical world intertwined with our own is intriguing and has been explored in various forms before. However, the way it was presented in Moonlight Mystique felt rushed and underdeveloped. The plot had potential, but the pacing was uneven, making it difficult to fully engage with the storyline. There were moments where the narrative dragged on, and others where it felt like crucial details were glossed over.
Character development is another area where the show struggled. While some characters had interesting backstories, many others felt one-dimensional and lacked depth. I found myself wanting to know more about their motivations and struggles, but the writing didn’t provide enough substance to make me care. The main protagonist had a compelling arc at the beginning, but as the series progressed, it seemed like the writers lost sight of her journey, leading to a disappointing and unsatisfying conclusion.
Visually, It had its strengths. The cinematography was stunning, with beautifully crafted scenes that captured the enchanting essence of the mystical world. The special effects were impressive, adding a layer of magic that enhanced the viewing experience. However, even the most visually appealing show can’t rely solely on aesthetics to hold the audience’s attention.
The soundtrack was another highlight, with a hauntingly beautiful score that complemented the mood of the series. It successfully created an atmosphere of intrigue and emotion, which made some of the more poignant moments resonate. Unfortunately, this was not enough to save the show from its narrative shortcomings.
In terms of dialogue, it often felt stilted and unrealistic. Characters would deliver lines that seemed forced or overly dramatic, detracting from the authenticity of their interactions. This lack of natural dialogue made it difficult to connect with the characters on a deeper level.
Overall, It had a promising concept and some standout elements, but it ultimately failed to deliver a cohesive and engaging story.
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Masterpiece
It is worth watching this drama. My favorite actress is Bai Lu. Her dramas are primarily good. The series is becoming more interesting and addictive. The story of Kunning Palace is attractive and reasonable. Bai Lu always plays her role well alongside the male lead. The character of the male lead is straightforward. He expresses his love and kindness directly, compared to the male lead in the story of Kunning Palace. The male lead and female lead each have their sadness. I feel happy that the female and male lead cooperate and love each other.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Such a disappointment….
I wanted to live this drama. It started well with an amazing cinematography and certain charm. Then it was a whirlwind of stereotypes, & cliches.Where should i start?
We can easily guess who is the long lost sister Xi and ofc the script made her killed her own father. Then we can guess who is there long lost brother Qi Feng!
The villain is such a cliche. The second male lead Chong Zhao was set up to be this obsessive man who ends up in this live triangle, repeating same arguments for 20 episodes to have his childhood sweetheart back.
But… we could pass all this because of the magical decor & landscapes but everything took the wrong turn at episode 20 when they went to the Fox realm and in 2 episodes we had 3 people who sacrifices themselves in the name of love and especially Mu Jiu who asked Fan Yue to kill him for him to retrieve the water stone and that he can leave happy with Bai Shuo! Tian Huo is then very understanding and they all cry the death of Mu Jiu whose sacrifice was finally enough to calm down all the fox spirits and ofc the lead characters can continue their adventures!
But based on the characters, if someone killed Fan Yue or Bai Shuo for the same reason, he would have become part of the revenge list! So it doesn’t make sense at all.
The drama became a succession of cliches where complexity of characters was lost and ended up being a big mess and lot of contradictions in the emotions that were portrayed! Complexity doesn’t mean chaos!
Finally, as mentioned there are a lot of repetitions in the story as you can tell that the characters were not well thoughts and so to compensate cliches were added!
And can we talk about the bgm with the swoosh…. Bam! Every time a character says something to emphasize on it?? It is so annoying 🙄
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If you’re looking for a captivating drama, you might want to look elsewhere.
### Lackluster PlotThe storyline of "Moonlight Mystique" starts off intriguing, with a premise that promises mystery and romance. However, as the episodes progress, the plot becomes convoluted and predictable. Key twists that should have been shocking feel forced and unoriginal, making it hard to stay engaged. The pacing is uneven, with some episodes dragging on while others rush through crucial developments.
### Underdeveloped Characters
While the main characters have interesting backgrounds, their development throughout the series is minimal. The protagonist, played by a talented actor, lacks depth, making it difficult to connect with her struggles and triumphs. Supporting characters often feel like stereotypes, with little to no growth or complexity. This lack of character development makes it hard for viewers to invest emotionally in their journeys.
### Inconsistent Tone
The series struggles to find a consistent tone, oscillating between serious drama and light-hearted moments. This inconsistency can be jarring and detracts from the overall viewing experience. At times, the humor feels out of place, undermining the more serious themes the show attempts to tackle.
### Production Quality
While the cinematography and set designs are visually appealing, they can’t compensate for the shortcomings in the script and character development. Some scenes are beautifully shot, but they often lack the substance needed to make them memorable. The soundtrack, while atmospheric, becomes repetitive and fails to enhance the emotional impact of key moments.
### Missed Opportunities
"Moonlight Mystique" had the potential to explore deeper themes such as love, loss, and the supernatural. However, it often skims the surface, missing opportunities to delve into the complexities of its characters and their relationships. This leaves viewers feeling unsatisfied and wanting more depth.
### Conclusion
In summary, "Moonlight Mystique" is a series that starts with promise but ultimately disappoints due to its lack of a cohesive plot, underdeveloped characters, and inconsistent tone. While it has some redeeming qualities, such as its visual appeal, it ultimately falls short of delivering a compelling narrative.
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!!great chemistry, good story, awesome cast. It's rare for me to not fast forward!
You don't need to go watch the other prologue drama Ancient love poetry, but a little summary of them might help before watching. It's on the discussion page. I got really bored of "story of pearl girl" when it was airing, but i'm actually waiting daily to watch each episode of this drama.The plot: FL is a goddess in her past life who is now a human, and she reconnects with the "Desireless stone" that she once created. The demon king ML needs this stone to heal his curse. Her main quest for pursuing completion of the stone is to avenge her father's death, so their goals align. He also starts developing feelings for her, while they both question what kind of person each other really is.
Side characters are mostly interesting so far. I feel like 2nd ML might become a villain eventually. Tian Huo actually got a whole story arc. The fox clan arc was also well done.
Villains- I am really enjoying the cold spring palace villains. The girl is twisted in a tragic state hoping for romance with 2nd ML..
I loved bai lu in "story of kunning palace", and ao rui peng is doing really good in this role. I hope to see more of him
Finished this one, it had a happy ending and surprises at the end. I think everything about this drama was great. The storytelling, characterization, and visuals were on point.
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This review may contain spoilers
At times, really good. At times, really bad. Probably because more things "said" than "shown"
*This review contains vague spoilers, not specific spoilers. Read at your own risk.*NOTE: If you're watching this because you think it's the Ancient Love Poetry sequel that will reveal the romance story of the characters Tianqi and Yuemi, this is NOT the drama. Because of copyright issues, this drama should be viewed as only vaguely related and a standalone with distinct differences. I personally have come to think of this drama as a alternate universe for Tianqi and Yuemi, so their backstories don't match Ancient Love Poetry. But, also, if you enjoyed Ancient Love Poetry, and you came here to watch for a continuation of Tianqi and Yuemi, this is like a lukewarm drama to soothe your heart temporarily. It's not really a good one because there is a twist later in the drama that essentially makes this drama NOT a continuation of their story.
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Okay, now, my thoughts.
This drama started strong with a compelling and tragic first story arc. In fact, all the arcs in the drama did a pretty good job at tying together and tying back to the main storyline. But I would say that the beginning--the first 1/3--was good. The main characters, Bai Shuo and Fan Yue, were still skeptical of one another, learning to trust one another. The other main characters, Chong Zhao and Fu Ling, had a complicated, messed up relationship that built tension really well.
But somewhere in the middle, it felt...boring? Especially for the main leads. I think once Bai Shuo and Fan Yue fell in love, they became really boring. I'm not saying this just to be a hater. I think their romance wasn't earned. The writing of this drama was not convincing. They also became super repetitive. I get that the writing wanted to write them as this kind of pure, green-flag romantic couple who reassured one another and supported each other. But sometimes, it felt like toxic positivity. The characters couldn't just sit in their sad feelings and grieve. Their partner needed to be like, "It's not your fault. You did everything you can. No matter what happens, I'll always be here." So then, the writing felt forced to make the romance move along. I understand that with the 40-episode limit, with 5-6 mini-story arcs, it wasn't easy. But when your main characters become boring...unfortunately, the acting of Ao Ruipeng, especially, was weaker than others at this time, too. When he becomes the character Jing Yuan, somehow, he's more expressive. But as Fan Yue, he becomes a bit bland after falling in love.
Meanwhile, the secondary couple's relationship became really interesting as we reached the halfway point of the drama. Demoness vs Eternal, evil vs good, deception vs truth, while also having to rely on each other at times--they had many dimensions to them, and so were entertaining to watch.
The supporting characters: I enjoyed the fact that the writing even gave them personalities. A lot of times, xianxia dramas like these just give supporting characters the most bland and basic stereotypical personalities. But not this one. For example, the right-hand woman of Fan Yue, Tian Huo. She had the typical role of serving her master with complete loyalty, and in a typical xianxia, she would've been written as someone who fell in love with Fan Yue. Instead, she didn't, so she was never jealous of Bai Shuo. She respected Fan Yue and was also grateful to him. It was refreshing to see their platonic relationship.
But, as I mentioned, the writing can be repetitive. If I have to hear a villain say, "Do you really think you can kill me? Do you really think I haven't levelled up since the last time...?" one more time, I'll scream. It was so overdone, overused, and became annoying. The final villain boss was fairly scary, but his lines could've been scarier.
The soundtrack was strong. With Sa Dingding and Zhou Shen, especially, the songs were memorable.
Overall, the writing can be mediocre at times. But I think you would enjoy this for complete different reasons.
If you want green-flag romance, then after the main leads trust each other and fall in love, it's pretty much like that for most of the time.
If you like red-flag romance, the secondary main leads have a really complicated relationship from beginning to about the middle (that gradually becomes green flag later).
If you like tragedy and sacrifices and angst, this drama definitely has so much of that.
If you want want light-heartedness, this isn't really it. There are some sweet moments and good scenes, but there are a lot of deaths too. There's a reason why Sa DingDing's OST is the MAIN song. Her voice is great at inflicting pain when you're already weeping from the story.
Also, perhaps a good time to remind watchers: Be aware that, in this year of 2025 with China's censorship rules on dramas, the main characters aren't really allowed to be morally grey. If they are, they usually don't get happy endings...so keep that in mind.
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weak character development
Bailu's character lacked depth and complexity. Her character felt one-dimensional, often relying on clichés rather than evolving throughout the series. The script did not provide her with enough backstory or motivation, making it difficult for me to connect with her journey.While Bailu has shown talent in previous roles, her performance here felt underwhelming. The emotional scenes lacked the necessary intensity, and at times, her delivery seemed forced. This disconnect made it hard to invest in Bailu's struggles and triumphs.
The storyline had some intriguing elements, but the pacing was inconsistent. Key plot points involving Bailu felt rushed or poorly executed, leaving me with more questions than answers. The lack of clarity in her motivations and decisions contributed to the overall confusion of the narrative.
On a positive note, the cinematography and production quality were commendable. The visuals were stunning, and the setting added a magical touch to the story. However, even the beautiful aesthetics couldn't fully compensate for the shortcomings in character development and plot execution.
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This review may contain spoilers
A XianXia Not Like the Others!!
What a journey this has been—a good one though! What I appreciated is that there were no annoying misunderstandings breaking up the main couple since they had good communication. They were always very open and truly knew the other very well, which is what I hope to see more in future xianxia dramas🥳I really enjoyed the different arcs, and how you could differentiate them all… If I had to pick my favorite it would maybe be the Outlander and Fox arc? Although the Stone arc was also very compelling. My least favorite was probably the Divine arc, surprisingly. I did not really care for it to be honest.
The styling, OST, sets, etc. were amazing. Bai Lu looks prettier than ever, and Ao Rui Peng looked dashing as our Demon Lord. The whole cast looked really, really attractive and delivered great acting in my opinion. Especially Dai Lu Wa (and her voice actress!! Added great depth to DLW’s performance) gave a very convincing performance, and I really enjoyed how she went from ruthless Fu Ling to sensible yet strong A’Xi😈🌺🌺.
The show may have a happy ending, but the fact that everyone is gone, and that Bai Shuo and Fan Yue have to wait for them to be “reborn” kind of sucks, I won’t lie. For now, they’re practically alone, which is sad😭😅
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Dare to ask God, what is happening in the mortal world.
Fantastic overallSo this drama doesn't have any negative points other then a few so lets start with that
1. The main final bozz villain was not villaning for me. Not talking about acting the actor was very good his acting was very nice through out it was the final villain stoey like why was he villaining at the first place. They didn't give us the back story properly like why was he so mad that he brought a 60000 year catastrophe for no reason? Why he wanted to marry main lead for no reason? Is it he fal in love or what?
2. The constant dying of basically everyone was so heart breaking so it was very sufferable.
3. They go to past illusion and changed it but they got a result out of it but like it was a little complicated here.
Now the good things which i think everything was an absolute 💯
The visuals, visual like the main leads were like real life angels and we were all simp for them.
The cinematography and color scheme ate. Like absolute stunning like they played with colors like people play with our feelings. Dark and cool tone color scheme ate and left no crumbs wedding dresses were super cute.
The music really took our breath away. Like the most sad yet most beautiful music give such cool vibes. they made us their fans with every ost.
The amount of pain and suffering we get from this drama was a little too much for our delulu hearts.
The character development of everyone specially FML was very good they really showed every situation perfectly there. SML story and his character was good too.
They didn't turn any good character into a bad character just for the sake of the plot. And also showed alot of plot twists that we didn't expected so the thrill factor was there.
No nonsense couples always understood eachother and helped everyone. The second lead story was more interesting.
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This review may contain spoilers
Not the most unique setting, but really worth watching for the development and acting
The good:- Really enjoy the opening of the drama with the animated scene
- Acting of the cast is really good, 敖瑞鹏 and 白鹿's chemistry here is off the roof and I hope they get to be the leads together for a future drama again! Even the second couple 代露娃 and 常华森 are super cute together. Everyone works well with their pairing it's definitely a good drama for the fangirls/shippers hehe
- Very solid crying scenes that made me cry along with them, like I could actually feel their pain and emotions. It's not those pretty crying, it's the type of cry where it's slightly ugly (granted they still look good because they... look good haha), where their eyes are all red and they're bawling their heart out. It made me want to give them hugs :( My eyes are swollen right now as I typed this haha.
- Despite the sad scenes, there were really funny ones that I laughed out loud to as well and I enjoyed it :)
- Development of the story is very good as well, as the main cast visit different towns in each arc to gather the 念s (not sure what it's called in English. Emotion? Feeling? or literally "ties" to the world) for the 无念石. My favourite arcs are 宁安城, 狐族, and 月隐海 arc, cried especially hard for these with lots of ~feels~
- I love dramas with a strong FL and 白月梵星 DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I don't want to waste my time on another another drama where the FL always need the ML to save her (the FL here still does but in this case they're always saving each other). It's literally funny at one point the 2 MLs fainted and the 2 FLs are the ones holding them lmao.
- Characters in general are pretty clever and get the obvious e.g., another character is hiding something and they could literally tell unlike other dramas that took another 2-3 episodes or even an entire arc or a few arcs to resolve the misunderstanding. Here they resolve misunderstandings almost immediately so there's (almost) no unnecessary drama.
- Character outfits are super pretty and all the characters look really good! Really love the wardrobe and how they evolved from arc to arc according to the setting.
- I've watched dramas where many characters somehow look alike but that's not the case here - I can always recognise even the side characters who they are and what they do, so good job to the casting director and stylists. Sounds like a random thing but I really appreciate when they took the effort to have unique styling for various characters so it's easy to recognise them, so I wouldn't feel confused like 60% of the time when I'm watching the drama like who's that again?
- The kissing scenes... are good heh
The not-so-good:
- People keep dying and I cried too hard I'm very tired
- No but why does so many characters need to die?! Like they be pulling some game of thrones sh*t idk they trying hard to make me cry and it worked but still, I think we could all make do with lesser deaths
- And if they don't die, they be fainting and almost dying many times maybe that could be toned down on a little
- Not the most unique setting, I'm tired that it's always some demon lord and human/weaker fairy girl setting like... ok. But they did make this up with solid development etc.
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