Love of Nirvana

Surprisingly good

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The dynamic between the leads was engaging, though i initially wasn’t a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, as I often find it overused and cliche. Despite that, i found myself enjoying it, even though there were moments when i wanted to skip scenes. It didn’t always feel like a true enemies-to-lovers story, as the fl often seemed disadvantaged in their interactions. Still, i couldn’t skip any episodes, which is impressive for me, especially in a political drama.

I liked the fl’s character. she has this genuine desire to make people around her happy, and even though she helps others, she doesn’t come across as a pushover. She genuinely seems content with helping, which is heartwarming and made me connect with her on an emotional level.

That being said, some things bothered me. The ml’s initial treatment of the FL was frustrating. He acts like he’s going to kill her, using threats to keep himself safe and hidden, even though she’s a defenseless girl with no martial skills. His approach felt unnecessarily harsh. This is part of why i don’t typically enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope—it often feels forced, with little thought given to why the characters are even at odds in the first place.

Also, the fl’s inconsistency with her principles was frustrating. She helps one person, then immediately goes back on her word just to reconcile with the ml. It made me wish she would stand up for herself more and follow through on her own path, rather than bending to fit his.

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Scheming, scheming and more scheming

I love watching scheming, political, fighting for the throne type of Chinese dramas so I had to give this one a shot.

Where do I even begin with this. I mean, the storyline itself is mediocre at best. It's the typical political/framed hero type of storyline, so I am very used to this. However, what I like about it is that it has so many unlikable characters and people wanting the throne.

Of course, it has the two brothers fighting for the throne, but it also added the scorned ex lover who is crazy enough to believe that she deserves the throne after the emperor casted her aside. I mean, who even saw that coming.

Lets start with the main leads:

Wei Zhao/Xiao Wuxia: I like Allen Ren and I like how he plays this character. Don't get me wrong, he was not the nicest male lead. I mean, he tried to kill her every chance he got, so yeah, not the nicest man alive. Does he deserve her undying love? No, he does not. But I do understand where he is coming from. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something she shouldn't have. And yes, he did also saved her a lot of times, but I don't think that makes up for the fact that he also tried killing her so many times either. I also like how him falling in love with Jiang Ci did not deter him from trying to reveal the truth behind his father's unjustified death. All he wanted to do was clear his father's name and restore Yueluo to its former glory while trying to serve the one person who is behind it all. One thing I would say about him is that for someone who is so smart and supposed to be one step ahead, he still fell into the emperor's trap. However, I really do like how they ended his arc. He died a hero to the Yueluo people. He was able to accomplish what he set up to do, even though the world may not know that the real truth, he was able to bring peace to Yueluo. And to me, that's the greatest thing he did by sacrificing himself, he protected the people he wanted to protect the most.

Pei Yan: Don't even get me started on him. Argh. He is my most hated second male lead. He's obsessive, controlling, and manipulative person ever. He used Jiang Ci for his own good and even tries to control her. He wants her to be trapped in a cage even though she only wanted to be free. AND he knew that, but yet, he wanted to control her. Every time he says that he's doing it to protect her, I just want to slap him because he's not doing anything for her. He is only pushing her further away from him. She respected him as her savior and he went and become someone she hated. I do feel pity for him because he grew up under his mother's reign. She used him and treated him like a puppet and her meal ticket to the throne. He deserved a better mother than that. However, that does not excuse him for trapping Jiang Ci because he was trapped by his mother. Even to the end, he foolishly protected her when she deserves death for staging a coup.

Jiang Ci/Princess Yong'an: I like her carefreeness, but boy, she got herself in a lot of trouble. She's always at the wrong place at the wrong time. Honestly, out of the three main leads, I wished they explored her childhood more. They barely touched based on her father and mother and her master/aunt. I mean, we met the master/aunt and then she disappears for more than half the drama and shows up towards the end and then she's dead. I wanted to get more of her background and stuff. As for her secret birth, I haven't read the novel, so I don't know if this was part of the original story, but I can go without it. I don't really think we needed her to be a princess but I guess it's just way to trap her even more. Who knows. I just wished they would have showed her being a doctor or something. Throughout the show, they showed her as someone who likes medicine and is knowledgable in it, but yet, they just ended it like that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like that they gave her a child and she returned to her home with Wei Zhao/Xiao Wuxia, but at least make her a doctor or something. You know? Like give her something more than just being a mother.

Cui Zhiming: I don't have much to say about him, but I do feel like they kind of messed up his relationship. He was so cute with Miss Dong and they just ended like that. He deserves someone to be his side. He was the only one who treated Jiang Ci like a real person and not just someone they can used. He was nice to her and cared for her -- genuinely. I am glad that he is finally free from Pei Yan. So, I am happy with that. I really do like Gao Han since Falling Into Your Smile, I especially enjoyed him in Love Like the Galaxy, but I do wish that they gave him someone.

I'm not even going to talk about the emperor and Madam Rongguo, because they're just so unlikable. They make my blood boiled and at the end of it all, I was wishing for their deaths. So let's just leave it at that. Two of the most detestable persons in drama land.

Overall, I gave this an 8 out of 10. I feel that it could have been shorter and I wished they took some plot lines away that were not necessary at all to the main plot. I also wished that Wei Zhao/Xiao Wuxia or at least Pei Yan have evidence of what happened 20 years ago so the world can truly know that their "beloved" emperor was the cause of Prince Qi's death and the fall of Yueluo. Don't get me wrong, I am satisfied with how they wrapped that up, but I wished there was evidence to really let the world know what happened. Other than that, I am happy with how they wrap up the story.

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The Jiang Ci Rule: A RANT

There is a special spot in hell reserved for this drama.

The only way that this drama can possibly work is if you imagine that it takes place in an alternate universe that completely revolves around one person - Jiang Ci. Everyone lives for Jiang Ci, everyone’s happiness is contingent on Jiang Ci’s safety, everyone’s goals, ambitions and shrewd lifestyle of precaution and careful planning can be thrown out the window the moment that they lay eyes on Jiang Ci.
This, what I’ve termed as the “Jiang Ci Rule”, is the fundamental rule of this world that the ML, the SML, and even her “Shifu” are all enslaved to live by. And every time you begin to understand a character - their motivations, their backstory, their train of logic - and their role begins to take life as a more 3-dimensional character with depth, the Jiang Ci Rule must be invoked to trample them down into a 2-dimensional puppet whose only purpose is to behave in whatever way because “the screenwriter said so.”

The show was promising in its exposition, but quickly derailed off of the tracks in a way that is unsalvageable.

THE EXPOSITION

The initial relationship between most of the characters made sense. The ML and the FL were true enemies, they didn’t know each other’s identities but they knew that they were not standing on the same side, as their plans were constantly being thwarted by each others presence. And while I disliked how Jiang Ci’s meddling always successfully ruined the ML’s well-crafted schemes, I understood that was her intention all along, as she did not know what he was scheming and why. And based on how they met, and on the upstanding man that she believed the SML to be, it is totally rational that, in her ignorance of the ML’s justice mission, she would default to taking the SML’s side and positioning herself as the obstacle to all the ML’s plans. While it is annoyingly that she is so presumptuous as to try to be the hero all the time and interfere in this political conflict for which she has no context, her actions can be reasoned away by her naivety and narcissistic “defender of justice” hero complex (unlikable, but not far-fetched).

THE CATALYST
** Spoilers Hereafter **

The first major sin happens after the elderly couple that had been helping the ML behind scenes are publicly tortured and killed by the SML. They would have never been captured and killed had the ML’s plans worked out up until now, but their deaths were caused by the multiple cracks that the FL over-eagerly wedged into the ML’s perfect schemes. And the ML seemed to agree with this conclusion before this scene, as he had just been water torturing the FL in prison because he blamed her for every comrade that died, or was maimed, had to go into hiding thanks to all of the FL’s interferences. So naturally he should blame her too for this (and the FL should’ve also realized her guilt at this point because she had not stopped to consider who she might be harming whenever she helped expose the ML’s plans). When the FL requests to meet the ML next, you would expect to hear some remorse, apologies and recognition of her guilt on the FL’s side, and a lot of blame and increased animosity towards her on the ML’s. But what does she do instead of apologizing? She launches into a story about a stray cat that once died and makes parallels to that and the death of this elderly couple to show that she can empathize with the ML. She assumes no fault at all and compares the lives of this loyal, misfortunate, suffering elderly couple to that of a stray cat. A logical response for the ML at this point in their relationship is to take offense at this and for his hatred for her to not be pacified. But this is the first time that the “Jiang Ci Rule” goes into effect, and the ML is softened to the FL as if their whole negativity history has been wiped clean by her pathetic attempt at sympathy. Somehow this, of all things, is the turning point where the ML chooses to forgive all the things that the FL has done to get in his way and inadvertently harm his people, and does a complete 180 degrees - going from wanting to manipulate, silence, and seek retribution from the FL, to wanting to defend, protect, and fall in love with the FL. It just makes no sense.

THE JOURNEY

Now that the leads are no longer enemies, the FL often tries to find a way to “save” the ML when she thinks he might get in trouble. This FL, who has no martial arts ability, no context for the political struggle going on, and no insight into the intricate plans that the ML is weaving, cannot let go of her meddling nature and allows herself to continue to be the catalyst for things going south in all of the MLs plans. Like when the ML goes to such lengths to help her escape from the SML after the ordeal in Nanning, and then she immediately returns, rendering all of his efforts in vain, because she needs to “save him” from having his identity as the assassin revealed thanks to the matching arrowhead. And how does she do this? By stealing the arrowhead in broad daylight and then running straight to the ML’s room, leaving muddy tracks leading right through his window to further incriminate him. If they weren’t fully convinced that he was the assassin before, those actions were most certainly the nail in the coffin. Moreover, as clever as the ML is, he too would’ve already figured out that the arrowhead would’ve incriminated him and came up with a backup plan, but after Jiang Ci’s actions there was no more denying it. And the most ridiculous part of this whole thing? When she arrives in his room, she begs him to not let the SML find her, don’t let him take her away. WTH???? He already did so much for you to escape before today and you threw it all away, and now you show up and say “I’m back, you have to protect me again now.” Does she not realize how much of a liability she makes herself by staying with him, or does she just not care and expect him to be fully willing to take on her baggage, no questions asked? But the Jiang Ci Rule exists, and so of course he hides her, he houses her for days, and he sorrowfully listens at night when she complains about “when will we be able to leave this place? My shifu’s waiting for me. My shifu, my shifu, I’m gonna miss my shifu.” HE ALREADY SENT YOU TO HER AND YOU CAME BACK OF YOUR OWN VOLITION TO CAUSE TROUBLE FOR HIM. What right does she have to complain in front of him and guilt him about her missing the meetup?? He should be growing annoyed with her by now, but instead I’m supposed to believe that these are the situations that make him fall in love with a bullheaded brat like her?
Or how about when they are in Yueluo on the day of the City Lord selection when he tells her to stay home, and she deliberately sneaks out and shows up in the city center. Because of her, she and Yu Lian and Le are spotted in the crowd by Hong Jie and they are later kidnapped in order to threaten the ML into handing over the jade hairpin. Hmmm, If only they weren’t spotted on that day, then they would never have been discovered as the ML’s affiliates. Hmmm, if only someone knew to tell them not to be seen outside that day… smh
With all this, every action that the FL makes has proven to be a thorn in the ML’s side, whether intentionally or not. And she never recognizes how much trouble she has caused, never takes responsibility for it, and still acts so brazenly wherever she goes, as if she deserves to hold her head high in front of everyone, because she’s just a carefree girl who has done them no harm. You cannot convince me that there is a romance developing between these two leads unless the ML has no concept of cause and effect. Maybe in his eyes, the FL is fearless, loyal, and stick to her own principles. But her fearlessness combined with willful ignorance and lack of ability constantly backfires on him. Her loyalty is an obstacle whenever the loyalty is blindly applied to those who stand on the opposite side of the ML. Her principles lead her to constantly thwart the ML’s plans as she does not what he instructs, but whatever she thinks is best in the moment. But the “Jiang Ci Rule” allows him to only see the virtuous causes of her actions, and not their disastrous effects. So much so that she becomes the person for whom he would constantly alter his well-crafted plans, and put her wellbeing and desires above the justice of the Yueluo people and the redemption of his father’s name that he had spent years of his like committed to seeking.

And then there is the SML, which is another extreme case of this. A man who had planned for years just to make a name for himself and redeem his father’s legacy, suddenly becomes obsessed with this one girl and would constantly sacrifices his reputation and his goals in order to forcefully bring her back into his household. He looks crazed half the time whenever Jiang Ci is mentioned, and I don’t even know why because they don’t have that much history with each other, and she told him very early on that she was not interested in him. Yet in every scheme he makes, he seems ready to sacrifice lives until he hears that Jiang Ci might be there, and then he’s running like the wind to protect her, and only her. Without reason she has become this prized jewel that does not have to do anything to earn undying devotion from him.

THE BREAKING POINT

So all this was frustrating, but I thought I could just grit my teeth and make it through the show if I just told myself that the SML is a lunatic that was written/acted poorly to be portrayed as a nonsensical love-obsessed archetype rather than a rational human being. And then I just had to close my eyes and pretend that there was no romance happening between the ML and FL, and he was tolerating her because he has way too much foresight and is playing the long game, so her little blunders actually are trivial to him.
But I absolutely had enough when the shifu entered the ring. This woman shows up on the day of what would be the final battle between YueLuo City and Lu Yu’s Liang forces, and she enters the battlefield dressed in a Liang army uniform and thinks, “this is the perfect time for me to attempt to reunite with my disciple. I see her on the battlefield, trying to protect the YueLuo people who are clearly being oppressed and about to be annihilated, and it is the perfect time for me to make a scene because everything is all about me and my disciple.” Like hello??? There are bigger things at hand right now than you and Jiang Ci. Didn’t she say that she was fond of YueLuo and always yearned for their bitterless congee? Now that they are fighting for their life, she thinks it is a good time to engage the ML (who is clearly the leader of YueLuo’s army) in combat and fight over this one girl? The women, children and elderly behind those city walls will all die if they lose this battle, but you really think this is an appropriate time to settle personal scores??? This can only be explained by the Jiang Ci Rule. Unless this entire world is meant to revolve solely around Jiang Ci, there is no way that the shifu would choose this battleground to make a move unless she really is a ruthless, evil person worthy of bring the main villain of this drama. Anyone whose behavior sends the message “whole cities may fall, and I will not be concerned, as long as I get my disciple back,” is not supposed to be viewed as a good or even neutral character in a show. And yet, when Jiang Ci sees her shifu fighting the ML, she behaves the exact same way! She starts crying like a baby and yelling “I’ll never forgive you if you hurt my shifu,” and her whole awareness of the battle that they are in is completely lost. Suddenly it is all about protecting the shifu from the ML, who is suddenly a bad guy in her mind? He wasn’t even trying to fight the shifu, he keeps telling her to calm down and he’ll explain things after the battle, but she refuses to back down and continues to attack him like a rabid animal unable to listen to reason. Yet in the FL’s eyes he not only is attacking her shifu, but he must have approached her intentionally from the start just so that he could hurt her shifu. Why would she jump to that conclusion in that moment??? The shifu was dressed in enemy army attire, it is more likely that he is attacking her thinking she is a member of the enemy army. But in her eyes he must immediately know who the shifu is and must be so desperate to harm her that he would prioritize attacking her now over finishing the battle to protect YueLuo that he is LITERALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF FIGHTING. Because the world revolves around Jiang Ci and the people around her, everyone else is expendable. Just a few episodes ago the entire city BOWED DOWN to Jiang Ci to thank her for her efforts in curing the pandemic, and now on the main battlefield she is ignoring their plight to cause a scene and distract their leader from winning the battle, because the single life of her shifu is that much more important than every life saved in the city? And in doing so she obviously exposed herself as someone precious to the ML and the enemy took advantage of the conflict to kidnap her for use as a bargaining chip with the ML later. Thus, once again a decisive victory for the ML is thwarted by the FL appearing to endanger herself and give him a weakness that his enemy can use against him. The FL has forever been written to be a thorn in his side.

This was the breaking point. The ML, the SML and now even the shifu have been acting in ways that are unreasonable and can only be explained by blind obsession with and devotion to the FL. And it has blinded them all so much that the shifu directly inserted herself into the situation causing damage to the greater good, the SML has long lost sight of the greater good, and the ML still fights for the greater good but willingly humors the FL’s immaturity, self-serving sense of justice, and ignorance-fueled fearlessness that gravely hinders the greater good. As soon as the FL was captured I turned off the screen and refused to watch any more. Every character is insufferable and not worthy of a good ending, whatever misery comes next is well deserved. The ML and the people loyal to him are the only characters with redeeming qualities, but his indulgence of the FL will cause every one of them to be harmed in the end, and that’s not something I want to see.

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some remarks on the characters stories and connections

One thing that I really liked about this drama is that the relationship between the male leads isn't neglected. And that each of the male leads have very strong story arcs that aren't just frivolous fluff to offset the times when one ML is growing closer to the FL then the other at their respective times. I'm very invested in each MLs stories to the very end; this is something a lot of dramas lack in producing. The truth is that this drama is about the two men and their stories. The girl is the lense with which we peer into these stories.

From the beginning, our FL doesn't fully trust either of the MLs. And from the beginning, neither of the MLs is meant to be seen as wholly bad or good. Our FL is an unexpected blessing to both of the ML which neither had planned on. Both are challenged and changed by her. Who do you think is the one who valued her spirit and independence best?

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Life after Love Of Nirvana, Wei Zhao, and Jiang Ci

Overall I would say that this show had me interested 75% of the time but the 25% really REALLY got to me.

First things first credit where credit is due.
1) Li Landy, Ren Jia Lun, and Jeremy Tsui all did a wonderful job at their respective roles and were able to truly bring them to life, these roles felt 3 dimensional and not just 2D.

2) The writers truly fleshed out the Li Landy and Ren Jia Lun's characters. They each had a back story that unraveled as the drama unfolded, their motives were clear, their priorities were set and they did what they set out to do. (Win my heart that is.)

3) Jeremy Tsui was truly able to make me fall in love and hate the Second Male Lead, I don't know if that was the intention but...

4) Yueluo's arc is truly phenomenal from the story line to the development and the future of Yueluo.

The 25% that truly bothered me
1) Jeremy Tsui or Pei Yan and his mothers story could be made into another drama altogether and that could have been interesting instead of roughly meshing together 2 stories. There were parts in the second half of the drama that I was truly skipping because of this and funny thing is it did not take away from the story. If these parts were made shorter and brief it would still have had the same effect desired. I feel like this drama did not do Pei Yan or the second storyline justice.

2) I have not read the book and I will not claim to do so just to prove my point but from my engagement with the viewers who had, it was clear that the drama did not follow the same storyline as the novel. If we assume that that is the case then I do not understand WHY they HAD to give it the novel's ending. For a character who is shown to have mental, and physical prowess, I do not understand why the drama ended the way it did. One situation that I truly found ridiculous was the last episode and everything has gone to hell he says - “Today's story is mine to tell. The Emperor of Liang died at the hands of a sycophant, Wei Zhao.” If you are so keen on telling the story then you need to be *alive* to do that. He could have left, he could have been alive but maybe it's the actors love for sad endings, honestly I could have done without this.

3) Minor details - It truly made be scoff when the emperor reveals who killed Wei Zhao's sister and why. Like Sir are you okay? This could have been SOMETHING but she died for what. Also Pei Yan's unnecessary overbearingness and obsession is rough to witness, I'm just glad he realizes it and moves on. Lastly, one night and pregnancy is a bit much even if it's a period drama like can there be some build up, some fluffy domestic scenes, etc. I have no problem with a pregnancy trope but do it right instead of just throwing it in at the last moment.

I know it may seem like I truly disliked the drama - that is not the case. I encourage anyone who reads this review to watch the drama at least once and skip when you feel like it too. Its a good watch and you can learn a few things from it about life.

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Political intrigue

The plot centres around xiao wuxia who is eagerly seeking for justice for the people of yuelou,his father inclusive
I greatly enjoyed the first episode .the ml was focused on accomplishing his task of capturing teng rui which was ruined by the fl .
Pei Yans character initially was manipulative but later ,I was happy wen he decided to join hands with wei zhao .
All in all, the story was intriguing and I loved all the actors for the great work done .I liked the marital arts scene very clear and on point.
I too also liked Dr.cui character .for the first time , HE DESERVED THE BETTER

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Fell a little short because of the romance

This story would have been much better if they left the romance completely out. I get that romance is CDrama’s kryptonite and without it, maybe some people won’t want to watch it but it is not needed in every drama. CDrama’s tend to try to force romance no matter if the situation is murky and it takes so much away from the story sometimes.

The Good

Started strong steeped in some mystery with a murder/revenge plot. The original plot was actually engaging and intriguing. The main characters were all setup nicely, had strong acting and were a great fit for their roles. Costumes, makeup, wigs and sets were decent as well.

The Bad

The romance. I love a good romance story like the next person but the connection between main leads felt lackluster and partly due to the extreme treatment he put her through. This caused a huge disconnection of even wanting to see romance or even believe it. Again, the romance was not needed or warranted after all he had done. It became forced and became the identity of the story as it went on towards the end. They could have been great allies since their stories intertwined but the shallow romance left the ending for the main FL unsatisfying for me. I also did not like that the two MLs were dubbed. I don’t think it was necessary since both can dub themselves.

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عالی بود

به نظر من بین سریالای رن جیالون دتبه ی دوم و داره الان توی قلبم ( بعد از یکه و تنها ) نقش اصلی دختر کاراکترش رو مخم بود ولی نقش اصلی پسر رو خیلی دوست داشتم و تمام قسمت هایی که توی یوئه لو بودن با تک تک اشکاش و ناراحتی هاش منم گریه کردم و واقعا درد و ناراحتی شو با تمام وجودم حس کردم ، اهنگای سریالم خیلی قشنگ بودن و تا پخش میشدن اشک منو درمیوردن

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JUST WATCH IT.

I am so beyond picky with historical cdramas, and I don't know how to express in words just how much it takes for me to actually get through one. Even with ones I like, I can't help but skip through and watch the parts that only stick out to me more. With Love of Nirvana, this was not the case.

I have some criteria that really determines whether I watch or not. The most important, is the characters. I am impressed with all three of our main leads in this drama. Truly, the actors did a phenomenal job as each was complex, flushed out, and most importantly, real. They aren't "perfect" people, which I tend to see in a lot of dramas. That makes it hard to connect with the characters but in this case, its clear that they are driven by their own motivations, conflicted, and so human I can actually sympathize with them all. Their intentions are not always clear, sometimes are questionable, but it makes it all the more intriguing to watch and remain captivated.

The FL is such a breath of fresh air. I really can't stand spineless characters as it just makes the show too draggy and I get impatient. While I do love a really badass FL too, sometimes cdramas fixate too much on that element which really washes out the character. Our FL has her strengths and weaknesses, but is overall quite clever and cheeky. I really love her character, and how she develops through the story.

Even our ML. Initially, I found him questionable but as the story unravels its interesting to learn more about him. Additionally, the progression of the relationships with this drama are more realistic and natural which makes them more believable. The side characters too are enjoyable. Sometimes cdramas focus only on the main cast, making the rest of the world more 2D but all the characters in this show played a role making the world feel more real.

Now the plot. Generally, I find it hard to really care and engage with the world in historical cdramas. Usually whatever is happening only processes on a very superficial level for me as I am more interested in the character dynamics and chemistry (which this drama definitely has). This drama keeps you on your toes. Along with the characters, things are unclear and only later revealed it just makes you want to keep watching. Scheming, plotting, unclear motivations, puzzles and mind games executed with characters who play the role just right. Some themes are heavier which I prefer especially when they are executed so brilliantly as in the case of this drama.

Even the music. Usually, I don't notice it but this drama did well in coupling the right music with certain scenes (seriously, I never really give this attention but this drama managed to make me notice).

Anyway, just watch it. I'm impressed with how sucked into the world I got with this drama. My watch style really doesn't mesh well with historical dramas as I find their plots to be too much effort and too lengthy to involve myself in. This drama really just hooked me though.

The only complaint I have is that it does start out stronger than it ends (I enjoyed the first half more than the second half).

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