Best Romance for me This Year
This year was a year of amazing romance dramas, but this one really did something to my heart and I have revisited favorite scenes countlessly since. The chemistry between Hou Ming Hao and Lu Yu Xiao was electric. Their glances, the build up of their story was completely and utterly believable. The writer took the time to build their story. You could feel one falling for the other and then the other one after. You could feel their struggles, the guilt, the desire, the sacrifice, the passion. It's not always about the kissing scenes --but the scenes were SO beautifully done you could feel the build-up and complexity of each of their kisses. I loved this drama and thought the story was really well-written, executed, and it also wrapped up well -- no small feat for a C-drama. My favorite romance costume drama for 2025.Was this review helpful to you?
Why Love in the Clouds Stayed With Me — Enemies Turned Lovers Done Right
Love in the Clouds completely won me over. I loved everything about it.. the storyline, the acting, the OST.. every single part just worked. The main couple’s chemistry is superb, the kind that pulls you in and makes you emotionally invested from start to finish. I’m honestly going to miss them so much.This drama cost me several sleepless nights because I had to know what would happen next, even on days when I had to wake up early for work. 😭 It’s only the second xianxia I’ve ever watched and finished, and since I don’t usually watch this genre, my expectations were already high because of the first one.. but Love in the Clouds actually exceeded them.
Yes, there were a lot of misunderstandings, which could be frustrating at times, but they also made the story more engaging and emotionally intense. In the end, I think the plot flowed well because of those conflicts. I especially loved how the last 30 minutes of the final episode mainly focused on the main couple.. it felt rewarding, intimate, and emotionally satisfying. Overall, this drama left a strong impression on me, and I’ll definitely be carrying the feels for a long time. ☁️❤️
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Well... to conclude
My humble opinion on the drama.The drama is good, although not perfect. The top praise goes to the actors, the main couple, and all the supporting actors. Their love is strong, pure, and yet burning. Costumes are magnificent and perfectly fit them. Every line, eye contact, and movement sets the right impression on the characters. I read the novel, and am sure to say that the actors did a great job in their characters, at least visually. The music creates just the right atmosphere (especially the intro song and HMH song), setting the tragic moments and happy occasions in sync. The visuals also impress the viewers with their vividness, neither too bright nor too dark (I prefer a balanced tone in cinematography).
[spoiler] I've appreciated that the creators made considerable improvements to JBZ's character, since he's not a very likable guy in the novel. Nothing terrible about him or his actions toward FL comes to mind, but his selfishness and overbearing confidence irritated me a lot. However, I don't much like MY (not actress Lu Yuxiao) in the drama, because while they improved JBZ, they seemed to neglect her as a character. She's much more capable, caring, and lovable in the novel, deserving of respect and happiness. Here, in the drama, she is a constant liar, a petty schemer, and occasionally lacks common sense. Most of her angst and troubles come from lying for not-so-important reasons. At least the creators should have spent more time explaining her background and upbringing (from the novel), which would make sense to her in-drama behavior.
Here comes the main disadvantage of this drama: the PLOTHOLES.
[spoiler] It's actually the creator's fault for making an inconsistent storyline, lacking the world's common sense and setting explanation, predictable, and cliché plot twists. I felt like they're making most of the plot up during the production process. The poisoning arc takes up too much of the storyline, whereas in the novel, it was just a first step for the main leads to meet and fall in love. Minor villains have too much screen time, procrastinating their yet again unnecessary reasoning and dramas. Many questions arise in this and that episode.
[spoiler]
1) GMD is a weird addition to the plot. So, the Bo clan of some ordinary fairies created a substance that could turn the world upside down, and they announced it to the whole world... why? to be killed? Why make a substance that could give someone spiritual veins when there's no need for many warriors in their realms (at least not explained that there is)? Even those without veins can use different artifacts (Yan Xiao and Situ Ling), which contradicts the notion that someone must have spiritual veins to be considered an Immortal.
2) What's the point of creating Hgrief in Sunken Abyss if they all knew that the recipe is incomplete and cannot be converted into GMD? What was the point of actually having that Bo's medical book if the Bo clan only knew that formula? Bo Yulan just made it out of nowhere on the brink of death... Or if they didn't know about the incompleteness of the recipe, how did they know about the book?...
3) Why didn't JBZ take GMD to save his life? Plot states that "he didn't take it because he wanted to lure out those who killed his master"... So what? Couldn't he have taken it and just announced that he "had it still"?... Again, how could nobody identify the mark on his forehead since it's similar to Yagoung King's?... Why did the Queen give her baby to a stranger, hoping she would follow him, and she would find him later?
4) What was the point of the Bo sisters wandering around the world if a mighty dragon set a barrier around their family residence and guarded it? How did nobody suspect MY's identity since the dragon protecting the Bo clan let her enter the manor, her and no one else? How did Yaoguang Queen even know that one of Bo's sisters gave birth in Yaoguang? Why did Bo Yulan blame JBZ for child swapping if she just gave up on her niece herself?
5) The most important event of this world - Qinyun tournament, was shown as a brief fist bumping in a couple of episodes...I actually mainly waited for this event, because it should have shown our badass MY in all her glory... And got nothing. Nobody was even surprised that an 'ordinary fairy' could create such powerful artifacts... seriously.
There are many more of my questions ;)
To conclude, the drama is definitely worth watching. Gorgeous characters in beautiful costumes caught in their passionate love is definitely worth. And it's actually the main reason to watch it. Plot and storyline are so so. I enjoyed watching it, and think many will too.
Best regards to everyone!
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The concept is so unique
I just loved the acting of Lu YuXiao and Hao Minghao….The characters were on point and even credits to Situ Ling for the incredible performance…..there is a lot of on screen and off screen chemistry between Ming Yi and Ji Bozai…The story is very unique and the FL starts as a strong woman and even ends the drama as a strong woman unlike most dramas….Ji bozai is to die for…his love for her is just incomparable to anyone else….they stood for each other at all times and I definitely could rewatch it a 100 timesI just loved the ML character..very flirty but yet loyal to only Ming Yi
It’s a must watch show and I am still not able to move on from this drama♥️
Lu Yixiao and Neo hao are such underrated actors and their off screen as well as on screen chemistry is on point
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Fire-Level Chemistry With a Story That Actually Holds Up
Some dramas rely on chemistry to compensate for weak storytelling.Love in the Clouds doesn’t need to.
Ji Bozai and Ming Xian (Ming Yi) carry one of the rare fire-level pairings—the kind where every interaction feels immediate, responsive, and fully mutual. This isn’t one-sided longing or manufactured tension. It’s two characters who meet each other exactly where they are, moment by moment.
That alignment is what makes their relationship feel real.
But what elevates this drama is that the story actually holds up alongside them.
The pacing is tight from beginning to end. There’s no mid-drama slowdown, no filler arcs inserted just to stretch the runtime. The narrative moves with purpose, and more importantly, it moves consistently.
Ji Bozai behaves like Ji Bozai.
Ming Yi behaves like Yi.
That sounds simple, but it’s where many dramas fail—forcing characters to act out of pattern to serve the plot. This drama avoids that. The character logic remains intact all the way through, which makes both the emotional beats and the plot developments land harder.
The mystery element adds real structure, not just background intrigue. It pulls the story forward and gives weight to what’s unfolding beyond the central relationship.
And the world doesn’t collapse outside the leads. The side characters have presence and depth, contributing to a story that feels complete rather than narrowly focused.
One of the standout dynamics is between Ji Bozai’s spirit beast and Ming Xian’s spirit beast. Their relationship adds warmth and texture without being reduced to comedy or misread as romance, they are companions, and the drama respects that distinction.
There’s a level of consistency here, emotional, structural, and character-driven—that’s hard to maintain over a full series.
This is a drama that doesn’t ask you to choose between strong storytelling and powerful connection.
It delivers both—through Ji Bozai and Ming Xian, and through a narrative that knows exactly what it’s doing.
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The drama captivates you from the very first episode
The drama is an absolute delight! It popularity is 100% justified. For me, historical cdramas are something new, I turned a blind eye to them for a long time because of my prejudices, but I decided it was time to give it a chance. Everyone declared in unison that this was the best drama in Chinese cinema this year. As a result, from the very first episode, I was drawn into the viewing cycle. I don't know what exactly fascinated me about this drama, but my inner feeling won't let me lie about how much I liked the drama and the characters.Ming Yi and Ji Bojai are really a couple created in heaven, the actors did an amazing job of conveying all the love and care of their characters. The chemistry between them is just crazy, I’d like to see their couple being happy more and more! The plot is so twisted, but it arouses more interest. Events are changing at an incredible rate. I didn't expect the turn of events that happened in episode 30 at all.
Definitely recommend for everyone to watch! The episodes flew by unnoticed!
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I really wish I could give this a 9 or 10 but...
The story was perfect, probably one of the best fantasy dramas I've ever seen UNTIL, they simply regress most of their progression as characters and couple for some episodes for definitely not good enough reasons, SPECIALLY after all they went through already.I'll try to explain without spoiling anything, but it's like they spend a lot of time building their trust for each other, having it broken once, and then solving misunderstandings by proving how much they truly care for each other, rebuilding this trust, just for having it broken AGAIN for... reasons. And from there is basically 6 to 8 chapters of pure needless and frustratingly slow angst. I know this is somewhat standard for romfan chinese dramas, but this one feels specially jarring because it was PEAK AND ALMOST PERFECT until that moment. The characters were smart, there were no plot holes, no dumb misunderstanding, everything literally made perfect sense until that point. And honestly, the characters already went through what should have been the ultimate test to prove themselves for each other. They even share a very specific dialogue that should mean that there'll be no way for them to simply 'go back' to how they were before. And then shit happens, everything dumbs down a little, we go over the same problem for the third and fourth time, the pacing which was great tripped big time and never really got as good as that point, even when it does get better again.
I not saying all of this to say i didn't like this drama, on the contrary, I'm giving this a 8.5 due to my pure love to the main couple's chemistry, the characters, and the somewhat perfect story they had going until certain point. But honestly, it was so good that when the problem happened, it felt so much more disappointing.
But still i recommend it a lot! Now that I've vented, I'll talk about THE GOOD THINGS (besides its greatness until a specific point)
- Main couple chemistry TO THE ROOF!! It's in my top 3 at least.
- Definitely a how to write a female character done right. I love how the FL can be feminine, sweet and very powerful and inteligent at the same time, in a very natural way. Something a bit rare in this genre.
- The make up and clothing of the main cast was very pretty, detailed and purposeful. I specially love everything about 27's characterization and he is not even a main character.
- Creative story and background. The worldbuilding is a lot more creative than the common 'heaven realm x demon realm (or "animal realm") we see in most romfan c-dramas. Very interesting.
- Great music. You can feel already the quality from these dramas when they have specific music for specific moments and characters. It feels special.
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It’s not just a drama. It’s a masterpiece.
I wish I could erase this drama from my mind just so I could watch it all over again—again and again. Every scene, every glance, every subtle moment between the leads feels like it’s crafted to pierce your heart. The love they feel for each other isn’t rushed or shallow; it’s layered, delicate, and painfully beautiful. It’s the kind of love that makes you sigh, smile, and sometimes even tear up, because it feels so real, so intense, and yet so tender. You find yourself holding your breath during quiet moments, anticipating each touch, each word, each shared look that seems to speak more than dialogue ever could.It’s not just a C-drama, it’s an experience, a journey through love so pure, so patient, so overwhelming, that it feels unforgettable. Every moment is carefully designed to make you feel, to make you ache. If you haven’t watched it yet, consider yourself lucky, because discovering this masterpiece for the first time is a feeling unlike any other.
It’s not just a drama. It’s a masterpiece.
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Best Historical Romance Cdrama of the Year 2025
At first, before the drama was released, I looked at some of the clips and I already think that I should really watch this drama, I know it would be good. When it came out, I was so hyped but due to my busy schedule for school, I had no choice but to resist on pressing that subscription button. All my social media were full of LITC edits, I was too obsessed with it and I kept on wishing day by day that holiday would be so near already. Finally, when I'm already done with my exams and other stuffs, I immediately watch LITC, and I did not expect that it would be so much better than what I had initially excpected. I was a bit sure that this may be the drama of the year, but one thing made me kind of hesitate. That is the ending. I know that historical cdrama nowadays are full of sad ending or not open ending, so I was expected that this would lead to that kind of ending. But what made me shocked was that turns out not only it was a happy ending, it was also not a rushed one! After watching all the episodes, I was so sure that I made the right choice, and my money did not go waste. So that made me decided that LITC is the best historical romance cdrama of the year 2025.Was this review helpful to you?
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This was my first ever c-drama and I'm afraid I've set the bar too high...XD. I loved everything about this show, especially the cast and the insane chemistry between the two main leads. I've grown so attached to everyone's personalities and backstories, and I'll be sad to let them go now that the show is over. Hou ming hao stole my heart and Jibozai seriously is the dream man. I loved the yearning, pining and slow burn, and I even shed a few tears when Jibozai remembered how Mingyi liked scallion pancakes and bought her some on their first "date." The plot never had me bored, and I really admired how there were constantly plot twists that kept pushing the story's momentum forward. Side note, I never knew I would see so much blood being coughed up in a show LOL. Was this review helpful to you?
