Completed
soTreeD
14 people found this review helpful
Jul 23, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

Lost You Forever S2 crashed out with a few laps left to go

After waiting and anticipating for an entire year, reading the novel, reading the leaked script to sustain our fervour for the story and characters, to say Season2 was a huge disappointment is an understatement.
While I can understand budget limitations for scene downgrades, removing of characters or even remove entire arcs of the novel, I was at least expecting some integrity in the scenes that have been chosen to remain.
Instead we received a horrendous merging of plot points, as if the team wanted to check all their boxes somehow, and succeeding in ruining every single moment instead. We also had inexplicable plot changes that made no sense at all, when they tried to link it back to novel events in their weak attempt to guide the mess back to the novel's path.

In short, almost nothing went right in Season2. Characters failed to display their potential, cop outs galore.
I finished it for closure and will go back to reread the novel to remove this horrid taste the drama left.

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Completed
Apurva
15 people found this review helpful
Jul 11, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Cang Xuan is the one to watch this season.

Cang Xuan's character devolvement into a jealous man is what has me on tenterhooks. His feelings for Xiao Yao are finally going to explode, the previews of the future episodes look heartbreaking for all involved. Zhang Wang Yi is such a terrific actor, no other actor could have done a better job. What I have come to like about him is that once he figured out Xiao Yao's identity he did not ever treat her poorly. He looked out for her and it was reciprocated by Xiao Yao. It is just a twist of fate that his obsession took a romantic turn otherwise the bond they shared is truly amazing. Of course there will be a redemption arc for him, but this will result it Xiao Yao loosing more years with Jing.

I'm pretty sure that Xiao Yao & Ye Shiqi end up together, I'm all for it. I get why people get so mad at him, all he needed was just a little spine and he would have been a perfect character. I am not looking forward to the death of two pretty decent characters and it is hard to believe that they will be gone just like that.

Chenrong Xin Yue lost the chance to get into Xuan's good graces. Had she married him before, he would have treated her better. Now, she is here just for the prestige, her love was pretty shallow. But it is not like Xuan loves her or has the capability to do so. So, maybe they are well matched. It would suck if she doesn't pay for things that she does. I like her brother, he seems like a decent person and has been loyal to Xuan all throughout.

They went out of the way to make Tushan Jing appear weak. I'm really disappointed with the creators with regards to how they handled the final showdown between the Tushan brother. Before this, I never considered him weak, but the fight actually made it seem as if he couldn't fight at all. (I wonder if he was in a formation of some kind - I might need to rewatch the episode) But all the talk of fair fight from Tushan Hou suggests that there wasn't a formation. The fight scene should have been more charged. All the other scenes from these two episodes were more powerful compared to this one. His death seemed like an afterthought. We also finally see Fenglong do something against his conscience, taking credit for Jing's contribution. But with is last breath, he did manage to reveal the truth. I didn't want him to pay for his sister's mistakes. Despite her past, Chengrong Xin Yue had no redeeming qualities, only a brother who loved her would go to such lengths to save her life.

After completing the series, I have a new outlook on Xiang Lu. I did not like him in the first season at all, but I am not one to deny all he did for Xiao Yao. While he may not have been a good partner like TJ, he is the reason both Xiao Yao & TJ survived so far. He knew he wasn't right for her, so he did everything he could to make sure the right one ended up with her. He wasn't selfish with his love for Xiao Yao, he also made sure that she would have no regrets by leaving none of him behind. It is to be admired, the ability to love and let go. His death was gruesome and sad, I wish the rebel faction would have made better choices. But he died a hero who was loyal to his people till the end.

I agree with a lot of people, I am a bit disappointed that they treated the Xuan's killing TJ and the poisoning as an illusion, because it was in character for him to do it. I think that scene was sacrificed when the episodes were cut, so they had put in the Xin Yue's attempt on Xiao Yao's life and this scene together. It just felt that those emotionally charged scenes were all for naught. Cang Xuan's entire life was for the throne so it isn't surprising when he chose the throne over Xiao Yao. Had Xiao Yao even had any feelings for him, she would have been let down all her life.

Tushan Jing might have seemed like the safest choice for all and to some it may also feel like she settled, but Xiao Yao's love for him was undeniable. I'm pretty sure that even had she known all Xiang Lu did for her, she would have still chosen Jing. She would have felt indebted to Xiang Lu and conflicted because she did have some feelings but what she felt for TJ was far superior in her heart. Tushan Jing might not be the perfect ML that everyone wants or revers, but Like Xiao Yao I think he was gold. He was kind and ready to give up all and everything for Xiao Yao, how good for her that she fell in love with a guy like that. She needed that the most in her life.

I am bit confused about the ending though, if I got it right, XY died in their journey to compile the books. But there was no mention of TJ. I mean if XY died there's no way TJ would go on living not unless they had children. (I might have to rewatch this one again) Their visit to the Qinshui town also suggested that XY might be dead, here's to hoping that that's not the case and we get an extra episode for an epilogue.

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Completed
scarfie
9 people found this review helpful
Jul 22, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Just Don't like the anti-hero theme

The saddest ending is that the heroine prefers the anti-hero because he would do anything for her ... anything that even her mom wouldn't do for her! Basically, a slave.
Throughout the story I got the sense that she likes TJ because he represents safety and the "deepest" love that transcends even parental love. She said it herself that her mom wouldn't do something for her but TJ will ...
Without this love, she feels insecure. Well I don't know if TJ represents love or anxiety medication? But whatever.
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Completed
cryswash
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 22, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.0

Still worth the watch

Season 2 wasn’t as good as season 1 but still worth the watch as the overall story is still really good.

The Good

The acting kept me sustained throughout this drama and everyone really showed their range. A lot of emotions were very well portrayed by both the main and supporting characters. If not for this, I may have not made it through season 2. I will still give the story an A+ rating if I look at it from the overall show. This is a very uniquely written story about love and loss among immortals and demons that deviated away from your typical xuanhuan stories and I can really appreciate the effort they made to let it stand on its own. The OST is still pretty good.

The Bad

This season was less interesting than the first season and seemed to have slightly lower production quality. The editing was a little more choppy and you can tell that bits of detail were removed. I found a lot of this season to be a drag. Many of the scenes had too long of a runtime, far too much of a slow burn and it became a little more of a chore to get through. I rated the first season a 10 and was very excited to watch it everyday but the airing schedule for this season didn’t make it any better and I found myself deviating to other shows. There was also some predictability in how it would end and that may be due to the endless spoilers that novel readers gave if you read comments on MDL. Either way, the climax fell a little flat for me towards the end.

I would rate this overall show an 8.5 given that season 2 wasn’t as good to me as the first season but would still recommend a watch. Still one of the better shows in 2024.

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Completed
Ninsss
18 people found this review helpful
Jul 21, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

deep sigh

season 1 was the best, lost you forever s1 was even my top 1 wuxia series, Some may not approve of my opinion on season 2, don’t come for me. This is just my personal
opinion, frustrations, and sentiments.

I’ve put a hold on this for long since I’ve read the novel, wishing they wouldn’t follow its ending… but I decided to binge watch from episode 1-20 lol

Xiao Yao, was a bit tolerable in s1 but to be honest, I sometimes get so frustrated with her, but no one will beat my frustrations towards Tushan Jing.

Anyway Cang Xuan (zhang wan yi) in season 2 was so remarkable, how he portrayed his character, and Xiang Lu (Tan Jian Ci) these 2 are the main reason I anticipated season 2. Tan Jian Ci looks great in this kind of genre, I enjoyed love me, love my voice because I am a huge Zhou ye fan, but I don’t know I wasn’t fully immersed with him as the lead there.

anyway back to this review, I’m in a point wherein I’m just annoyed with the other two main leads XY & TJ so if they will
follow the novels ending maybe they deserve each other grrrr.

Incest during the earlier period was a thing, probably if CX and XY didn’t separate at a young age their probable love line would’ve been plausible, but hence overtime people change. I understood where he was coming from being in such a traumatic childhood losing people he truly cares about, only having XY but later on it became an obsession, I’m quite sad that they couldn’t fulfill the promises they had for each other.

As for XL, he’s carrying such a great burden, and base on his decisions so far it was for the greater good (more lives at stake) but my heart is hurting for him, yes he may be too harsh but remember he was never used to feeling what love and affection is like, and no one really taught him that, until he met XY…

As for CF, he was such an easy going dude but I think I’m not as invested because there were very little to no interactions between him and XY comparing it to the screen time XY had with the other 3 ML. But he was a good option to be honest, willing to be loyal and faithful to XY, willing to let her do whatever she wants… but yes there’s no chemistry… and later on he realized his feelings for her weren’t so deep, so I’m happy for him not getting messed up with XY’s slefishness and indecisiveness.

As for TJ, I’m sorry I really started disliking him S1 midway and more on this S2, I just find him so pathetic, at times manipulative, and calculative. Like yes he’s loyal like a dog but that’s about it. He is utterly pathetic, and a lousy clan leader, he’s selfish if you look at the bigger picture. Yes they could careless about others only wanting and focusing on their feelings but man that’s unrealistic.

XY ughh don’t get me started, I wanted or envisioned her to be a more badass FL tbh, why can’t she be more grateful being able to focus on her medicine, her archery, spending time with her brother, sister, and grandfather, she’s becoming more and more annoying. She doesn’t realize the life she’s living now is all thanks to other people who makes/made sacrifices for her to live a more unrestrained life, but here she is yapping about her past, and making it about her. But CX and XL had more traumatic past, and are continuously suffering in the present for the greater good (for a lot of people)

UPDATE: wow XY how can she be so self centered, yes she faced countless of hardships and was traumatized and still uses that card to make her seem so pitful, but CX’s experiences and hardships from his younger years up to the present day were and are more traumatizing, and he’s been sacrificing so much like XL, but here she is making it about her, it’s between her feelings and the greater good. She’s too selfish, doesn’t she realize she’s been living so freely nowadays because of everyone else’s effort? but here she is still holding onto the past as if she’s the only one w/ a scarred past?! CX and XL are the ones who are pitful, the burdens they have as an individual.

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Completed
MySiFeng
7 people found this review helpful
Jul 25, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

except for XL, everything else meh

well, my s1 comment still stands. with better director and screenwriter, this show can go down to be one of the memorable ones in recent years. shucks.

things I don’t like were many compared to those I like.

even for XL, why they think it’s good idea to turn him into this mopey mess? TJC saved this OOC with his acting thank goodness.

illusion scene? what? they trying to be twilight 2.0? epic fail.

I’m even surprised Jing felt nonexistent in most part of the show given that he’s 2ML. but even so, his scenes were dull.

we might have a better storytelling if eps weren’t cut to 23. but who knows.

just how many times XY need to wait and burst out like a mad woman? in s1, the mum scene was really good and effective. in s2, we have her crying scene with mum AGAIN, then yelling with CX, burst out during Jing….then we have the “underwhelming” cry for XL. Too much, no matter how you tell me oh that was good. it’s repetitive, and no nuance.

my problem with this show in overall, the growth of female lead was nonexistent. while in book, the ending was the start of her real growth, in here, she’s just love brained. that very person who said she’s lonely and don’t mind temporary companionship/lifelong to someone who needs a man or else she can’t survive. must it be a man? lol. I rather she don’t end up with anyone.

I won’t say anything about the CP here because S2 successfully destroyed all the ships.

lastly, all the actors here suffered from bad editing and inefficient production team. so, don’t blame the actors. the director, screenwriter and the production team are solely responsible. doesn’t mean Tonghua is a good novel writer means she’s good screenwriter.

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Completed
Panda Panda
4 people found this review helpful
Nov 3, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 2.5
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 4.0
Music 3.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Disappointing and super boring

Season 1 was great or at least the first half is very well paced and has interesting storyline. Honestly it is better that Xiao Yao remain as a guy the whole story, as her love story is really not important at all and just boring...
Season 2 is totally a different pacing and the story is flat, like changing the director or scriptwriter.
Actor and actress wise, I can't stand to watch Tusan Jing, either this character personality is an "OK" man, everything Xiao Yao said he only can said Ok, Ok, Ok with that dull facial expression or is it his acting so lame? No chemistry at all between this 2 (holding hands does not represent chemistry).
Xiang Liu deserved the love, acting and character wise he is the best male in this series..
And I am wondering why everyone need to fall in love with Xiao Yao? She is not that damn gorgeous nor has the best personality, she is selfish and undecisive. She love every men who love her, she choose Jing at the end is because Jing easy to be manipulated and can be stir by her.
Well I expect and have big hope in the beginning seeing finally there's a series from Yang Zi (love story thing) that is interesting BUT once again it is another boring one.. Not sure it is because of her facial expression or really because of the story line?

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Completed
TheNineTailedFox
3 people found this review helpful
Aug 13, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

In love with the chemistry and dynamic

I just finished watching. I am in love with the chemistry, interaction, and dynamic between Yang Zi and Tan Jian Ci. I finished the series for their story and chemistry. Yang Zi's and Tan Jian Ci's acting made my heart ache and cry. Also, beautiful costumes. I highly recommend it if you like angst- enemies to lovers - and lovers to enemies. Yang Zi's and Tan Jian Ci's dynamic reminded me of Sauron/Halbrand and Galadriel from Rings of Power. Tan Jian Ci''s character gives Sauron/Halbrand vibes too much. I love it.
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Completed
HananehNazifi
6 people found this review helpful
Jul 22, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 7.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers
It's first time i hate a female role so much.
I don't understand why such a writer should create such a weak and depraved character. The whole time she just wanted to marry one and keep her relationship with the others, why?
Because she was afraid of loneliness. The main character was obsessed with marriage and was full of trauma and complexes, and she was not suitable for being the main character.
The story really got crazy in season two and it made me feel bad.
The character of Jing had a very nonsensical personality and I don't understand why Xiao Yao should fall in love with this character, whereas the presence of Xiang Liu and Sang Xuan was more prominent than Jing and even the sequences about Jing could have been deleted.
I watched the whole series because of Xiang Liu and Sang Xuan, because they were the only people who had strong personalities and could show themselves, but Xiao Yao I don't think she could even be the main female character in the story because there were always strong contradictions and behaviors.
The story proceeded completely irrationally, and Xiao Yao's choices were completely irrational.
I have a piece of advice for the author, don't write novels anymore

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Archivtek
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 22, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

Multifaceted title depending on your POV

Where do i even start? I was on Team XL the whole damn way (even when i eventually found out what happened to him in the source material). Perhaps TSJ was better in the source material and was not adapted into the drama in a better way (excerpted from other people opinion) but overall his character seemed to annoy me more. CX was a complex character and honestly the dream sequence would have had more impact if it was truly the ending as i think it really fit the drama title which is him losing XY forever. I enjoyed Nian's somewhat of a growth and redemption arc and her giving XY, XL's final remnant and also understood why she was intent on telling the white lie the whole way. Grandad was the goat and i loved his leisure time on the mountains. Overall i would have loved to see more political tropes play out towards the end (heck they should have made 36 eps instead so some parts can take their time to unfold). On the fence on recommending this series for others but nevertheless it was top notch acting from all the actors involved, kudos to them

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Completed
bao____haus
3 people found this review helpful
Jan 8, 2025
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 5.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

i stopped watching for months after ep 19 and i wish i never picked it back up

you know... a tragic ending is okay sometimes. and it's okay.... for the main male lead... to be a bad person.

the ending of ep 19 was exactly what i wanted for this story (cx confessing, xy killing herself when she couldn't bring herself to kill him). it was deeply tragic, but befitted the narrative and themes that had been set since the very beginning. i hate a tragic ending when it's set up simply just for tragedy's sake, to make people cry at the end. it cheapens every character and theme more often than not. a tragic ending must be EARNED, it must be what the characters deserve, the story that the writer is trying to tell!

then i looked online and saw some ppl saying it got real stupid after that and i got scared and stopped watching. i got too emotionally invested in this drama and had too much shit going on in my life to see it get utterly ruined by shit writing and these show runner's complete inability to write a genuinely terrible ml so i just put off the ending. today, with no pressing deadlines or things to do the next day, i decided, in a great fit of self harm and delusion that maybe it might not be so bad to finish this show. i was wrong.......... i was saur wrong...................... it was worse than i could've imagined. so awful. like, genuinely top ten c-drama betrayals of all time. not even top ten, this has made my personal top 5, if not, TOP 3. you mean to say.... that the most incredible confrontation.... with these two very complex and well written trauma bonded siblings....... with the greatest acting of yang zi's and zhang wanyi's career thus far (i am making a bold assumption i've never seen anything else these two have been in)................ was an illusion? the emotional climax and critical point for both characters, in particular for cang xuan's character arc, for the CORE OF THE STORY.... what everything has been building up to since episode 1.......... was all just a dream? A DREAM????????????/ ARE YOU FR FR??????????

here's the deal. in general, the plot of season 2 is a mess. i can understand that due to certain regulations for series length, things had to get moved around or cut or whatever so i get it. as always, the plot writing of cxs has never been great. i talked about this a lot in my review of the first season but this shit just continues in the second. the show is not a political one, nor is it a military one.... it is a purely character and relationship driven story. HOWEVER, politics are critical to cx's character development, but clearly the writers don't give a shit, resulting in it feeling like cx's wins as emperor are unearned. season 1 already had grandpa just giving him the throne, season 2 is just all these other countries just GIVING him their countries. like what do you mean he's just such a great guy and there's like no rebels, everyone willingly joins his empire, there's minimal bloodshed, and he treats the citizens all wonderfully so they love him?>!??!?! it's such bs, like actually an insult to the intelligence of the audience. and i don't know too much about this as a non chinese citizen but like......... definitely at times i got this uncomfortable distinct feeling that i was watching ONE china propaganda LMAOOOO and therefore, cx HAS to be a good emperor who never abused his power ever lmao. like stop TELLING me how great it is that he unified chin- i mean DAHUANG and show me how this is a grand improvement from before. show me how this echoes the actual history of china like the warring states or three kingdoms or whatever where there was non stop bloodshed, military generals of various small countries held all the power and were tearing each other apart and oppressing the common ppl, many of whom were war refugees in the hands of military might. establish that THIS is the chaotic world that we live in, AND THEN cangxuan stepped in and united everyone, ending the blood shed. then i would feel like i could believe that cx is not only a good emperor, but a necessity for the stability and peace of the entire country. but no..... they could not write that story because they cannot spare even a tiny shred of consideration for politics or military...... so cangxuan is just unrealistically a benevolent ruler who wins ppl over by being nice to them. the thing was this show DID show us the lives of the common ppl in the first 20 episodes and they were FINE and HAPPY.... in fact their lives were what xy aspired to and created for herself. in what world would these ppl willingly be conquered by a foreign force???? insanity. delusion. and that's what leads to it feeling like uncomfortable propaganda or censorship or something, because the proof of him being a Good Emperor pivotal to the nation is shoehorned in.

however, emotionally, most of the show continues to be great! i absolutely loved seeing cx deal with the emotional effects after becoming emperor. cx thought that power was the answer to having everything taken from him. when he finally gained that power, he had to face the emotional devastation that it would never return the happiness and innocence of his childhood. however, like many traumatized people, instead of accepting this, he went straight back to trying to find the answer to his happiness or healing in the wrong places. it became clear that his incestuous obsession with xiaoyao is not true, romantic love. because to him, xy is a symbol of his innocence and happiness. the only time he ever felt whole and safe. a time that was destroyed by the deaths of his parents and family. he believes that the answer to his pain lies with her, that if he gets together with her and is with her forever, then he will be happy. just like he wanted as a little boy, because he is still that little boy. he does not truly love her, because if he did, he would respect her first and foremost as a human being. he would let her leave his palace, and leave his side to live the commoner life as a male doctor w tsj that she clearly desires. instead he forces her back to his side again and again, manipulating her and finally, if this show was good, killing tsj. but the past can never be returned to, and i wanted cx to learn this lesson the hard way. i wanted this obsession, the objectification, cruelty and pedestaling to make him pay the greatest price by losing xy for good. it was why the fucking dream confrontation was so satisfying! it was everything his narrative had set up from the beginning, culminating in him absolutely losing his mind and going totally feral with pure emotion, the opposite of his usual cold and calculating and repressed self. i like, still can't get over how great that scene is because we just really don't get that kind of thing very much with idol dramas. seeing the way yang zi couldn't stop screaming in absolute horror after he confessed to her was actually bone chilling. like, it made me uncomfortable, sick and disgusted and sympathetic in a way that an idol drama has NEVER made me feel. the fact that they erased this scene, rewrote it so that he was not the one to kill tsj but it was CRXY instead????? ok so now it's just MISOGYNY????? when she was ALso a pretty well written character and they just made her BEYOND STUPID. and ALLLLLL of this.... was just grandpa showing him what COULD HAVE HAPPENED.... destroying everything we've built up towards, fucking up cx, xy AND crxy all at once. for WHAT???? because yall are just too scared to make cx a bad person???? guess what, HE IS!!!!!!!!!?????? he is a severely fucked up, traumatized, toxic, manipulative freak in love with his fucking sister like????? LET HIM BE BAD OH MY GOD. just fucking let him be bad!!!!!!! that's how i like him because it's GOOD FUCKING WRITING. and even if it WAS crxy there was not a single moment where cx got the blame because it's also fundamentally his fault for driving crxy CRAZY by being the MOST NEGLECTFUL HUSBAND OF ALL TIME. like even then they couldn't write that well!!!! and then they wrote us into this stupid ass hole where he couldn't punish her for political OR personal reasons because csfl died for her essentially so then xy can't even take revenge but also she DOESN"T EVEN TRY to and then magically crxy has a change of heart and wants to be a good queen and then xy doesn't even question WHYYY crxy would kill tsj even tho it makes NO SENSE because she has no motivation to kill tsj or xy and since xy is supposed to be SMART would that not naturally lead her to the conclusion that crxy wanted something from their deaths and that therefore cx had feelings for her but no xy doesn't use her brain or do any investigating so WHY!!! why write this conflict at all w csfl and xiaoyao not being able to take revenge! her feeling miserable because EVERYONE knew crxy killed tsj except for her?? what was the point of all this???? UGHHHHHHHHHHh. like disappointed isnt strong enough of a word to describe how i felt about this ending. it was beyond stupid and pointless and stole xy of all agency because if they used LOGIC that would mean even more conflict and cause MOre problems and they didn't care about that or have time to deal with it. so xy is magically just gonna give up on her revenge because whatever, even tho we know that even if tsj returned, based on who she is as a character, she would NEVER let the murderer get away with it. remember when she wanted to fuck up a'nian for bullying lao mu and chuanzi??? BRO.

okay onto xiaoyao. as a character, xy felt like more of an after thought this season, since it was primarily about cx's character arc. and in truth, as soon as she genuinely accepted tsj as her partner, her character arc was over, because that is what this story has always been about. tsj is not particularly lovable to me as a character, but he is a symbol for healing, the correct path to take after trauma, as a foil to cx. i was really disappointed by what happened in the last season, and the way that they handled tsj's family issues and sexual assault. however, this season did actually make up for it somewhat. seeing xy come to terms with her own wrong doings and truly grow was actually powerful for a fl. usually when we follow the fl in a drama, since she is the protagonist, we tend to just go along w her actions as the right thing or reasonable thing to do from her perspective. but this scene w tsj showed that it wasn't true, that in fact, she should've worked together with her partner instead of essentially testing him to fail her and disappoint her, as she believed all people would eventually. personally, i felt that she could've done more to make it up to tsj afterwards, but she fought and they worked together to take down tsh and ffyy, which was good enough. from then on, i really wanted her character's final move to be leaving behind her trauma bonded relationship w her brother that was stunting her growth and happiness. which like, ofc she still does at the end, but it was deeply unsatisfying. i wish there had been any acknowledgment that cx was holding her back and they were bad for each other. which ofc, was had in the dream sequence and then promptly erased. the other reason i liked that ending, was that through trying to kill cx, she had agency, and when she couldn't do it, through her suicide, xy still had agency. by taking this away from us, instead, it just feels like xy is defanged and just goes along w the big moves that cx and xl make until the end where she doesn't even take revenge on crxy and just gets her happy ending. and im sorry.... having cx admit his incestuous feelings to xy and her accepting them is just really gross and uncomfortable for me. i get that culturally, chinese ppl value blood and patrilineal lineages SO much that as long as they don't share a last name it isn't considered incest but that is CRAZY to me as a modern day american and cx and xy are very much siblings who grew up together and xy's acceptance of his feelings and not immediate fear and disgust like in the dream sequence (which is again WHY the dream is the superior real ending to me) is just really weird and throws me off the whole show. i wish they stuck the landing w our female lead and gave her a truly satisfying ending, but whatever, it was fine.

i don't really have much to say about tsj because he is more of a symbol than a character and his inability for most of the series to stand up to his evil ass patrilineal confucian family is not completed in a satisfying way either. While it is clear to me that he was xy’s number 1 choice, i see other viewers primarily wanted her to be w xl which is the antithesis to the show but also i can understand. tan jianci is a better actor than deng wei LOL has more chemistry w yz and is also able to deliver A+ sexual tension! like... ofc they made xl so cool that people can't actually receive the theme and message of the story. but whatever!!! my take on xl is that he is a well written character who never changes lol. he valorized giving his life to a useless cause fed on nothing but pride and nationalism and he got what he wanted. so in a way it was a happy ending for him, but ultimately deeply sad because he asked for every bit of heartbreak he went through. others, and certainly the writer, see him as noble to a fault and deserving of respect. i do not share these values, so to me, he is just stubborn and pitiful but i do think he is quite well written and i appreciate him. i will always wish that his plotline was better written and the writers gave a fuck about the military instead of just how cool it looks. it is easy for me to find him stubborn and stupid because i don't believe that what he's fighting for is worth it!!!!!!! i wish that they showed me more of his relationship w his father and the soldiers, that they were truly brothers in arms, the people he loved who died in battle, or died for him... that chenrong was worth fighting for. if they strengthened those relationships, gave literally anyone else in the army NAMES and showed that his loyalty to them was actually worth it, then he would make a far greater impact to me. instead everyone else in the army distrusts him and hates him for being a yao and he only has his father like WHAT.......... make it make sense!!!!!!!

all in all, this drama's greatest shortcomings are its inability to care for or write politics or military plot that is as complex or even just as supportive as its characters deserve. season 2 is much of the same of season 1, but even more messy and roundabout in some ways, and ultimately capped with the most insane retconning rewrite that was never concluded in a way that made even a lick of sense. the ending was a gross insult to the original author, to the characters, the actors, everyone who worked on this show and their audience. i will never forget the absolutely fire first arc in qingshui town. the one time i cried this season was when we got to meet old sang tian'er. qingshui town was when the show felt fresh and gold, down to earth while still exploring the complexities of trauma and dating post trauma. i will always be thankful for the first 20 episodes..... i too, like tsj and xy would like to return there........

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Completed
Springvalley94
3 people found this review helpful
Jul 25, 2024
23 of 23 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

Ending too rushed/ Still heartbroken for Xiang Liu

I just finished watching season 2 but my heart still aching for XIANG LIU! I HONESTLY THOUGHT HE WILL BE THE END GAME FOR XIAO YAO while watching the first episodes for season 1!!! I was so surprised when FL chose Tushan Jing!

I understand what ya'll saying about Tushan Jing and everything that proved he was the right man for FL. BUT GALL!!! RESPECT for Xiang Liu's DEEP LOVE! I could make a lists of all he did for Xiao Yao since season 1 but the scriptwriter and director in this show really wanted him WRECKED! IT'S SO UNFAIR!!! AND I'M CRYING!! AND WHY!!??? T_T WHYYYYYYY!!! He had to die like that!! He didn't even say a proper goodbye to Xiao Yao! And Xiao Yao being stupid and dumb treated him so cold!!! I love this show but I hate it at the same time.

AND THE ENDING!! WHAT KIND OF ENDING WAS THAT!!! YA'LL MADE 2 SEASONS FOR THIS SHOW AND JUST GAVE US A RUSHED F****D ENDING!??? WHAT IN THE WORLD!!?? AAAAAHHH!!

I WISH IN ANOTHER DRAMA Tan Jian Ci and Yang Xi can be the end game!!! MY HEART'S REALLY BROKEN I AM GOING CRAZY! LOL

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Lost You Forever Season 2 (2024) poster

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