Cut the Filler, Keep Ming Yi and Ji Bozai
Even though the beginning didn’t convince me, I have to admit that the way the story slowly developed between Ming Yi and Ji Bozai completely won me over. Their relationship turned out to be incredibly wholesome and genuinely adorable, to the point that they became the real reason I kept watching. I only wish they had cut some unnecessary filler scenes, especially the ones about the villain and his mistress, because they didn’t add much to the main plot and sometimes broke the rhythm. Despite that, the evolution of the two protagonists made the whole experience really enjoyable for meWas this review helpful to you?
The acting deserves all the praise. The leads deliver layered performances, expressing so much even in silence. Supporting characters aren’t just background; each contributes meaningfully to the world of the story.
I was especially moved by the way the drama explores human emotions — loneliness, hope, and the desire to connect — without relying on clichés. The writing feels mature and sincere, showing that small, quiet moments can be just as powerful as grand gestures.
Combined with a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack and impeccable production design, this series becomes more than entertainment. It’s an experience — poetic, cinematic, and unforgettable. I’d recommend it to anyone who appreciates storytelling that touches both the heart and the eyes.
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Misleading Trailer but Decent Show Nonetheless
"Love in the Clouds" is advertised as a dark, angsty enemies-to-lovers romance in the trailer.However, the drama itself is much more a fluffy, light-hearted fantasy romance than anything angsty. While there is a healthy dose of both trauma and lies in the leads' interactions, the love story itself is incredibly pure; there is no true hatred or vengeance despite the hurt both characters experience. For those who enjoy watching intimacy, there's a surprising amount of those scenes that somehow passed the CCP's censorship. The chemistry between the ML and FL elevated the romance significantly and may have "carried" the show a little.
Regardless, I would say, overall, that this show was enjoyable. The abundance of comedic sound effects and one liners (cue 27) combined with the beautiful visuals give the show a distinct, charming quality. This lighthearted charm helps the show balance poignancy, reality (well, as much as a fantasy can afford), and romance without spiraling into the C-drama "tragedy and angst" rabbit-holes where emotion is singlehandedly delivered through crying scenes, betrayals, and blood-vomiting.
Additionally, I found the use of "strong FL" tropes to be well-executed in this show. Both the FL and the 2FL are imperfect but resilient in different ways, and they genuinely have personalities that are likable and extend beyond being symbols for the feminist empowerment movement (this year, many C-dramas seem to be set on the strong FL trend and as a result create characters that are a little too obviously manufactured to fit a certain mold).
My only and main gripe with the show is its one-dimensional antagonists. While the protagonists all undergo reasonable character development and have mostly flushed out character arcs, the villains are underdeveloped and carry underwhelming/simple motivations. The lack of complexity in the antagonists sadly flattens a lot of otherwise dramatic climaxes in the show and makes some episodes/arcs feel slower pacing-wise.
All in all, I found "Love in the Clouds" to be a cute show that's honestly worth a watch!
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GOOD DIRECTOR AND GOOD PERFORMANCES MAKE THE DRAMA WATCHABLE
EDIT 16 JAN 26 : I already watching the fully. This drama is saved by good directing and and some good performances from the actor.This drama is too centered around romances and multiples misunderstanding about female lead identity so they abandoned some plot point that more interesting. Political family conflict they arise might be more interesting and engaging if handled by more competent writing, but here we are. Even enemy to lovers trope because different realms handled haphazardly with chip tricks. While some character has layer (mostly thanks the actor interpreting the roles whith more depth), there is nothing special in the writing. I enjoyed it due to performances and how the director told the story. It's obvious they run out of budget at the third of the drama, but it's always solid in terms of acting and how the director handled the scene and performances. Though many scene are unwatchable in the theird act because the writing problem the actor can't save it. They also make each villain scene unwatchable. It's weird since they have so much screen times and back stories for the villain but none of them are watchable.
Overall despite trust conflict they arise in romances departement, it's just has this undercurrent romances touched from the director like passionated eyes, intimacy, and romance scene handled just give warm and passionated feeling between the character, despite many misunderstanding conflict, I still swepted by the romances.
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crying by episode 19
okay i had to take a break from my binge to write this. i rarely ever leave reviews but I have to for this. most cdramas carry similar elements, but this one stands out because of the INTENSE chemistry that started out right from the start !! 😮💨 but it’s more than that, the love story unfolds so beautifully and paces perfectly with the plot. ofc you have your typical sacrificing, life/death situations, but you really FEEL their love. amazing job to these main leads. it makes me want to watch more of Neo’s work. I tried fangs of fortune but the plot wasn’t there for me. I really love this drama tho I might have to go back to watch Neo’s work since im about to catch up and I’ll have to wait for the rest of the episodes 😭 if you’re thinking about it, DONT. just watch and episode 1 will pull you RIGHT in.edit: the only reason I gave some parts a lower score is bc I feel that there are some holes in the plot and some of the supporting actors are cringe, I now understand what ppl meant with the casting issue. the leads are absolutely perfect tho!!! ughhh obsessed im definitely in love with our ML
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This review may contain spoilers
Good overall slightly annoyed because of Situ Ling
Situ Ling idolizes the female lead to the point of an unhealthy obsession.To give you an analogy. He is like that one super fan who has an overly excessive passion towards the person he idolizes to the point that he is willing to do anything and everything to get that person’s attention . It feels more obsessive and creepy instead of selfless and caring . He doesn’t respect female’s leads decisions and actively goes against her will despite rejections.
It put the female lead in an uncomfortable situation where she has to feel bad for him, because he constantly puts himself in harms way for the female lead. He constantly shoves himself to her. He is just— in my subjective opinion very annoying and insufferable.
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✨ Promising start — great chemistry, stunning visuals, and a story worth watching unfold.
🌥️ Love in the Clouds — A Promising Start with Genuine Chemistry⭐ My Rating: 8.0/10
Tags: #Xianxia #FantasyRomance #StrongFemaleLead #DisguisedIdentity #MartialArts #BeautifulCinematography
I’ve only watched eleven episode, but Love in the Clouds already feels quite promising. The story draws you in from the start — mysterious, emotional, and visually stunning. You can tell there’s something deeper waiting to unfold beneath the surface.
Neo Hou Minghao portrays Ji Bozai incredibly well. The character fits him perfectly — his calm yet intense presence gives life to every scene he’s in. Lu Yunxiao also plays her role with grace and strength, even though I personally think the name Ming Yi doesn’t quite suit her. Still, she embodies the character beautifully and complements Neo Hou’s energy in a natural way.
What makes this drama stand out so far is the believable chemistry between the leads. Even when the supporting actors’ performances aren’t as strong, the connection between Ji Bozai and Ming Yi carries the entire episode. It feels sincere and emotionally grounded — something many fantasy romances struggle to achieve in just the first episode.
If the series continues to build on this foundation, it has the potential to become something truly phenomenal. The visuals are breathtaking, the tone feels balanced between action and emotion, and the leads are perfectly cast. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how their story unfolds in the coming episodes. 🌸
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Gracefully Bowing Out
I started this drama on 10th Oct 2025. It's now 5th Jan 2026, and I've only managed to watch a whopping....11 episodes😭. I had 2 main reasons to start this drama1. The obscenely high ratings
2. The utter shamelessness of this couple
5 episodes later, I put the drama on hold as it wasn't pulling me in yet. Then I started watching the currently ongoing drama Glory. I rather like Hou Ming Hao's character in that story - so much so that it revived my interest in this show. I wanted to see him in a different setting.
However, after an extra 6 episodes, I'm throwing in the towel. This time, for good.
My biggest issue with this show is that nothing is holding this story together. I like how shameless they are (for their time period), and they flirt beautifully - but this is largely because they are both beautiful humans.
However, the main plot, the whole thing about the golden millet dream, we've had no progress so far. His revenge..., truthfully, they haven't done enough to make me care for it or be invested. It's a sad backstory, but like.. meh🤷🏾♀️
I find myself bored, and I no longer care to see how the rest of this story will pan out.
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The story is boring, even though this is the series I wanted to watch. I'm disappointed.
Initially, I was really looking forward to this story because there was so much Reuters spreading around. But I'll be objective, xian xia dramas do have a common plot. But I like it.It's just that the story is getting slower and more aimless, and some of the humor feels dry to me. Visually, it's very pleasing to the eye, Neo, you're handsome.
As for Neo's acting, I have no complaints because I've liked him since Back From The Brink, I've watched many of his series.
The CGI and costumes are very beautiful.
The shortcomings lie in the story and some acting that seems forced. As for the female lead, she could learn more, because from what I've noticed in her previous dramas, she still plays expressions monotonously.
The OST is good, but it doesn't quite hit the mark, it lacks extravagance.
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A sort of a different cdrama -BUT
I don't write reviews cause I believe its a very subjective kind of thing,to each their own,but i had to rant about this drama!Obviously spoilers ahead ..!
Now to the main point.This drama started so positively and charming but things went awry after ep.19..Having watched my fair share of dramas in general,I didnt had a lot of good expectations but the first episodes kinda amazed me with the characters introduction and stories,the universe and the story in general.We had also good chemistry between the cast and the first leads were were presented beautifully with quirky dialogues and emotion.I really enjoyed the interactions between the 2 main leads,the presentations and motives of the villains and the first story arcs.Music and visuals very good as expected.The cliches also down to the minimum and not too cringey.We also had a good presentation of the main lead's backgrounds and motives.All good and not boring till ep 19 and specifically after Ming Yi's torture.A disclaimer is needed i believe here about my drama/scene preferences ,I hate with all my guts when the leads are in a haze/confused/drugged/tortured in a scene and the next scene have them to perform an intimate scene to progress the romance so as you can tell,i hated the scene after my girl's torture,where Bozai thought she made a move towards him and tried (and succeded) kissing her and tried to do more.My girl was tortured in all possible ways and according to the writers THAT was the romantic moment.!Anyhow,moving on to the rest of the drama where things went all wrong.The main leads once again started the no talking and miscommunication era,things could have been resolved sooo easily BUT drama had to drag for extra episodes,we had extra revelations to the last 3 episodes,cause why not and a lot of extra stories introduced last minute.Ofc we had an extra villain,a sweet but obsessed with the FL guy that turned out to be bad the last 3 episodes,for story purposes ofc,a father and a family background that came out of nowhere and without some sort of connection beforehand and a revelation about the main leads that threw everything off last episodes.The ML decided once again to ditch the FL even though SHE sacrificed herself soo many times for him(while she was also dying without a cure mind you) and kept her in the dark about his plans to sacrifice himself this time for the greater good.MIscommunication to the maximum this time and lots of silence between them and just looks and close camera shots with no point.Also,we never found out about FL’s original name.She borrowed fairy’s Ming Yi name when she saw the dead parents and Ming Xian is the name the empress gave her,so what name her true parents gave her??This also never cames up,i guess its a plot hole.The best part of these episoded was the return of FM's little beast .
The drama had some quirky and shrewd dialogues,especially in the beginning with ML,a good base story to begin with and good chemistry between the actors but lost a great amount of points with some scenes,ML's total clueleness and lack of wit and sharpness in some points and the last episodes that were too overwhelming.There is no rewatch value for me and i definitely cant recommend it,at least from the middle and on..If you like the ML i believe he was at his best in Fangs of Fortune,great chemistry with the other ML and he was way more clever and sharp there.😝
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Ming Yi and Ji Bozai's fateful battle
The push and pull relationship and deception between the two main lead is very interesting to watch.From enemies fighting each other. Using each other for their own purposes and ending up with mutual understanding and falling in love between the two
ML and FL's chemistry is good. From the beginning, there are many mysteries that have not been revealed. The story progresses slowly, revealing one by one the veil of mystery and connections between the characters. Of course, while enjoying the handsomeness and beauty of both main characters. and sweet intimacy of their relationship. The cinematography is also good. The CGI effects are also good.
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I dropped this drama because of the poor storyline.
When it comes to acting and music, the drama is quite good, but the story—especially in episode 23—feels weak. The betrayal plot involving Ming Yi seems forced, and Ji Bo Zai’s character is portrayed as extremely selfish.Even though Ming Yi initially approached him to obtain medicine, she was clearly different from others who only wanted the medicine without caring about him. She had many chances to take it and leave, yet she didn’t—she repeatedly helped Ji Bo Zai with his problems instead.
At the very least, Ji Bo Zai should have thought about **why** Ming Yi suddenly wanted the medicine, considering she had many previous opportunities to take it without caring about him but chose not to. That alone should have made him realize she was not like the others.
So when Ming Yi finally took the medicine without asking, his violent reaction felt unreasonable. Even if he was disappointed, he should have at least given her the medicine out of gratitude and moral obligation. After all, she had helped him many times.
the male lead, Ji Bo Zai, is poorly written: selfish, ungrateful, and unable to recognize genuine kindness.
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