The Unclouded Soul

"I've fallen in love with this drama, and I wish I could experience it all over again for the first time 😍. Out of all the C-dramas I've watched, this one also stands out for me. I loved the acting, Ost, CGI, and their unique chemistry and charms.
Tan Songyun (XY/Ning-an) is absolutely stunning - beautiful, cute, lovely, wilful, unrestrained, wise, strong and emotionally grounded. She brings light and balance to the drama's darker themes, and I think she did an amazing job portraying her 3 characters. This is her first fantasy drama, and she totally nailed it.

Neo Hou (Hongye) is equally impressive, especially in his first life as a human. He portrays strength, bravery, loyalty, resilience, and devotion, while also showing his vulnerable side. His subtle reactions, beautiful smile, and glances carry so much weight.

The supporting cast, including Xiao Mi, Xiao Mu, Tengshe, and Xiong Qi, Ali, Ao hen and Bz were all fantastic and incredibly loyal🥹

Their love story is timeless - no matter how many years pass, some things remain the same. They're bound to meet, fall in love, and hurt each other unintentionally, yet they remain devoted and loving towards each other. It's a testament to the power of true love that never dies and can't be forgotten.

I accept that not all love stories have perfect endings - even in real life, there's no such thing as a perfect ending 😭. Despite the pain and hurt, their love remains unwavering, and I admire their willingness to sacrifice for each other.

Overall, I'd say this drama is quiet interesting and worth watching. Some might be unsatisfied with the ending, but for me, it's an open ending that leaves room for interpretation. I'll keep rewatching it, even if it gives me a rollercoaster of emotions😊

I love this drama and the characters. Whenever I miss them, I'll rewatch it all over again🩵

P.S. No need to compare this drama with other dramas which are not same genres, plot twist, actors/actress chemistry because they have it's own uniqueness and storyline.

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Hong Ye, Moral Economy, and the Squandered Potential of The Unclouded Soul

Hong Ye, the Demon Lord of the recently aired C-drama The Unclouded Soul, is not an inherently unsatisfying character. Rather, he is a case study in how narrative structure and genre conventions can suppress complexity in favor of ideological convenience.

At first glance, Hong Ye appears to conform to a familiar xianxia archetype: the emotionally closed-off, jaded lover whose cruelty masks an essentially gentle soul. For nearly two-thirds of the drama, the series reiterates this characterization without meaningful development, asking the audience to accept repetition in place of evolution. The result is a protagonist who feels static, even as the plot insists on his emotional transformation.

The Unclouded Soul is a 40-episode xianxia idol drama starring Hou Minghao and Tan Songyan, framed as a female-centric narrative centered on Xiao Yao—a heroine defined by her unrestrained sense of joy and justice. The drama employs a time-traveling plot device to gradually unfold the mystery of her connection to Hong Ye across multiple lifetimes, positioning their romance as both fated and cyclical. This structure, in theory, should deepen the emotional stakes by layering past lives onto present consequences.

It is only in the third major arc—revealed to be their very first life—that the series briefly fulfills this promise. In this incarnation, Hong Ye is not a demon but a human burdened with the responsibility of saving humanity from extinction. His love for Xiao Yao motivates him to pursue immortality, not out of ambition or malice, but from a desperate desire to remain by her side forever. He steals demon pearls to gain power, fully aware of the moral cost of his actions. This arc finally grants Hong Ye agency, contradiction, and tragedy.

Hou Minghao delivers the pain and complexity of these decisions with remarkable precision. His portrayal captures a man torn between ethical compromise and emotional devotion, embodying the kind of moral ambiguity that xianxia narratives often gesture toward but rarely sustain. For the first time, Hong Ye feels less like a symbolic figure and more like a human subject navigating impossible choices.

Yet this is also where The Unclouded Soul exposes its most troubling ideological framework. Xiao Yao, who is gradually revealed to possess a savior complex, becomes the moral axis around which judgment is distributed. Her unwavering sense of justice—ostensibly virtuous—ultimately condemns Hong Ye to an endless cycle of atonement for sins rooted in love and desperation rather than cruelty. Meanwhile, other characters who commit far more egregious acts are narratively excused through death, narrative convenience, or symbolic punishment. The drama’s moral economy is uneven: suffering is not proportionate to wrongdoing but rather allocated according to narrative usefulness.

Hong Ye’s punishment is not framed as tragic injustice but as necessary balance, positioning him as a sacrificial figure whose suffering stabilizes the world order. In contrast, Xiao Yao’s moral absolutism remains largely unchallenged, despite the devastating consequences of her judgments. The series thus reinforces a familiar pattern in xianxia storytelling: the male lead’s redemption must be endless, while the heroine’s righteousness is treated as inherently correct, even when it is destructive.

Compounding this issue is the prolonged and narratively redundant storyline of the second leads. Their arc serves little purpose beyond manufacturing villains and crises, conveniently positioning Hong Ye to sacrifice himself repeatedly for the “greater good.” This narrative padding not only drags the pacing but actively undermines Hong Ye’s character by reducing his complexity to a functional role within the plot.

Ultimately, The Unclouded Soul gestures toward a far more compelling story than it allows itself to tell. Hong Ye’s character contains the potential for a rich exploration of moral compromise, love, and unjust punishment. Instead, that potential is curtailed by an overextended runtime, misplaced narrative priorities, and an ideological framework that demands his suffering as proof of cosmic balance. The tragedy of Hong Ye is not merely within the story—it is embedded in the storytelling itself.

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Unique and insightful

Running behind power and immortality, forgot what actually important, forgot to live forgot to be happy... Drama clearly depicted greed towards power & immortality .....
Coming to my review i really loved the drama ending is not sad or happy more like open ending....
Cast was perfect seven tan as xia yao and neo hao as hong ye as perfect can't imagine anyone else as them .....chemistry, acting ,fight scene everything was perfect
Supporting characters was good too
Anyone wondering whether to watch go for it you love it episode to episode it will become interesting
In short.. A unique, romantic, lovely drama❤

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Must Watch

I might be bias because Tan Song Yun is my favorite, but upon watching it, I find this series unique! her acting is not questionable, even she is older than her Male Lead, they have amazing chemistry. Well, Neo Hao is such a gorgeous guy! And their acting is undeniably effective!

I have read that the plot has similarities to other xianxia series, but I do not care. I have watch this first so it's unique for me.

But why Dali has to die 😭😭😭
The exciting part is on the next episode. Now will they face and surpassed the trials of the past.

I'm on episode 23 as of this writing! 🤗

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Ending wasn't only bad but disastrous

The ending didn't satisfy me at all! Regardless Hong Ye human arc was my favourite but Even after all those suffering, it was again Hong Ye sacrificing himself apparently because every sin is committed by him only and no one else is guilty at all .. It would have been a lil bit better if he could have recarnated atleast in the end .. but it looks like the story maker was a total Hong Ye hater , he couldn't be bothered.. Moreover, Xiao Yao learnt the new technique and went back to the time , when they first met ??? Like girl ?? What do you want? All to be repeated all again? Moreover all this time traveling was just so pointless in this drama .. people going back and not changing anything? She travelled back just to live the past life .. couldn't change anything at all !? In the end , I thought she learnt something new from ancient scriptures so maybe she'll go at the time of sealing the mirror and do something else and Hong Ye will be saved ! But NO 😭😭😭 She just wanted to live again with Hong Ye and watch him suffer all over again!😭😭😭 This drama has so much potential but story kinda ruined it.

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Great cast, nice acting, ending could've been better

So, I completed this drama today and all I can say is that the ending could've been better... I get that they wanted to portray cause and effect which they did excellently, but 3 lifetimes should've been enough to find a solution that benefits everyone.

Tang Songyun is my best actress and I couldn't see anyone who could've played Xiao Yao like she did. I became a fan of Hou Minghao more recently; he's an amazing actor and played his role as demon lord perfectly... For some reason though, there were times when it felt like something was missing in their acting... I don't know if it's the script or their age difference that caused the little frictions, but I've seen them be so involved in their acting in other works that it felt so natural... My opinion on their acting as individuals certainly won't change.

Overall it's a good drama. If the ending was well planned, maybe it'd have been a drama I'd rewatch but most deaths in the last two episodes were unwarranted and some characters deserved far worse endings than they were given.

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Boring, not make sense, too much useless scene, but it still a good movie I think

I might get some hate for this, but this drama honestly wasn't the best. I’ve seen much better work from Hou Minghao, like Love in the Cloud. While I’m trying not to be biased, this show only held my attention for the first 10 episodes; after that, it became incredibly boring. There were so many filler scenes that I found myself flying through 3 or 4 episodes in a single hour just to get through it. By the time I reached the end, the scenes felt useless, the plot was confusing, and the overall execution was just... "meh."

For example, why did when Dreamshard Immortal appear Hong Ye in scenes always involving prison and torture? Even Zhao Liying, who is my favorite, had a role that genuinely frustrated me. The female lead and supporting roles were equally exhausting to watch.

Then there is Bing Zhu, who constantly say about killing "evil" demons while he is slowly turning into one himself. The hypocrisy was hard to watch!

The time-travel where Xiaoyao returns to her past as Ning An started off well, But When she come back to the present not long enough, she met the 3 demon that want her to go to the past again to see why they have grudge on Hong Ye and then the story dragged on by having her go back yet again as a **Demon Lord**. It felt like the writers were just trying to stretch the episode count.

The constant, repetitive fighting between the humans and demons grew tireless. Furthermore, the logic of the side characters made no sense like Long Zhi why did she think killing Hong Ye’s family would benefit the demons or help Xiaoyao? It was a reckless move. and Ao Hen on more I don't even want to talk about him. He claims he wants "revenge" on Hong Ye, yet he is the one torturing Hong Ye and killing his people. The fact that he thinks Hong Ye is the one who needs to "pay" is ridiculous.

even the kiss scene scene is hard to watch maybe it better to not kiss.

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Not bad ..Not spellbinding..

The initial 6-7 episodes, I was this🤏close to ghosting this drama. Why? Because it opened with the most overused xianxia starter pack ever. ML lying unconscious in his core for a century in the middle of nowhere, only to be awakened by the FL. This savior is conveniently a lookalike of his ex lover who betrayed him and killed him. Add the usual human vs demon feud with elf, fairy and immortals making wildcard entries, opportunists of both sides taking advantage of the situation to exploit the innocent ones.
The storyline feels like a neatly stitched quilt made from leftover pieces of popular xianxia dramas, Literally everything felt like hitting a Deja vu.
Anyways Episode 9 onwards the plot starts taking shape.. it's not like you will escape the cliches but they will be less obvious at this point.

Now, let’s talk cast. HMH is my favorite, no debate. His acting, his voice, his screen presence, chef’s kiss. But compared to the emotional hurricane he was in Love in the Clouds, here he feels… restrained. Subtle is fine, but some expressions feel oddly flat. Especially those past-life romance scenes with Niag’an. I’ve seen this man look at a co-star like the world stops spinning, but here the gaze felt vacant, almost awkward. His character in the drama is also TOO direct, there is nothing much to do apart from reciting the dialogues with a straight face and shedding a tear or two every now and then... I’m still hopeful he’ll level up in later episodes, and I’ll happily eat my words if he does.

This is my first Tang Song Yun drama. I get the hype now. She’s good, very convincing, especially her youthful and childlike voice. Since this is my only exposure to her work, I won’t overanalyze. She’s doing her job well, and I’m content. Her character is charming , naughty , smart and willful just the right blend and she is doing a good justice to it.

The chemistry between the two is okay-ish, Not skipping-a-beat-type dynamic.

Ironically, the supporting cast and guest appearances stole more of my attention...Wang Duo, Chen Xing Hai, Wang Xi Wei and especially Zhou Li Ying, her character has not even been introduced properly and she is already overshadowing the FL.

Technically, the drama delivers. Fight scenes look more like casting-spells magical rather than mechanical. The CGI sets are gorgeous, especially the demon realm. Pink glowing grass, silvery skies, glittery blue waters, tiny living herbs with baby houses. Cute overload 🥰❤️ Styling and wardrobe though? Meh. Very safe, very recycled. I’ve seen this look before in LBFAD and Sword and Fairy. Nothing fresh.
And the BGM was good which is again similar to a very popular xianxia, IYKYK (hint : Xu kai is the lead)
So yeah, for now, I’m holding on for the cast and praying the plot finds its spine.


PS: I will edit this review if things improve.

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Round and round to the end

Somewhere buried in the chaotic mess of these 40 episodes is a fairly straightforward message and commentary on the duality of human nature - its inescapable fallibility and simultaneous potential for achieving greats acts of goodness. These are perennial themes often seen in xianxia stories, and they are worthy of exploration. But 40 episodes to tell this tale was not needed. Every arc essentially said the same thing, and by the end, the devastation that was perhaps meant to wring the audience's tears only made me cringe in how poorly the story was executed.

I think the main failings of this drama stemmed from its confused story structure - it is a story told in reverse to bring out a big reveal, which ends up not being so impactful because there are 20-30 episodes leading up to it that dance around it while not saying much of anything in the meantime. The human emperor? Red herring - he doesn't really impact the story. Dream Shard Immortal? Even Zhao Liying looks bored in her scenes because the meat of her story isn't shown, it is merely said in a monologue by another character. But the most critical story is the one from 10,000 years ago - depicting the humans' struggle against much more powerful demons that builds up to Hong Ye, the human prince at the time, and his betrayal of the demons (Although, the way the story is written, those demons deserved some of the badness that came to them given their equally despicable behavior).

The story of Ning'an and Hong Ye 100 years prior to the present story is also redundant. Perhaps it would have been wise to cut out either this whole storyline or the one from 10,000 years ago and focus on developing the human-demon struggle and characters. By the end, only Bingzhu and Pianpian are somewhat developed supporting characters.

In any case, this was an unfortunately dull and derivative xianxia story that did not afford the otherwise capable cast any great opportunity to craft interesting characters. Instead of being moved, I was exasperated at the end. Hong Ye's sacrifice is hollow because the story is riddled with holes. This story affords only a superficial pass at what could have been a powerful story about two very different people putting aside their prejudices and grievances to heal the world of war and hate.

Fans of the cast may still want to check this out - I was myself really eager to see Tan Songyun again in a costume drama - but prepare for a very long 40 episodes.

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The Karmic Cycle had always been the theme of this series

When i started this series i honestly thought this was just one of those fantasy dramas that would fill my day. Started out slow and a bit of a confusing world building but they did pick it up as soon as we reach the middle of the story.

When we reach the story of the mountain elf, thats when i realized that the theme of this series is karma. The madam of that sect wanted to plant good karma for her husband who has turned to a demon because the husband wanted to cure her, in turn she has helped the mountain elf become good. Again the cause and effect. And it has already been established that even when the mountain elf consumed the water from the spring, he just felt empty even when granted with immortality. This is evident when we see the actual place of the spring, its empty, shallow, endless and dark.

The ending of the drama is not gonna be everyone's cup of tea but it exactly fits the entire theme of the series. Hongye finally understands the cycle. No one will be able to destroy the spring as long as there will be living beings with desires but no one will be able to access it anymore if he seals himself with it. As for xiaoyao, she will continue going back in time just to see hongye but the ending will always be the same. And that will be her unattainable desire.

I always say this to everyone, if the message of the series doesn't resonate with you right now, leave it. And when the time comes and you remember this series, watch it.

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A good drama, not flawless but good

Okay so I watched it and let me simply divide it into pros and cons because it had both equally:

(This is just my opinion and it is full of spoilers, proceed at your own discretion)

PROS:

1. The caste - chef kiss, beautiful. I'll forever be the HMH fan and although I have not watched many dramas with TSY she was lovely.

2. Acting- Hands down amazing. I cried and will cry for them.

3. CGI- Beautiful! The productions value overall was high and beautiful 😍

4. OST- Is on my playlist and would never leave.

5. Story- Overall the story is engaging, beautiful with deep meaning. I loved how their was no main great villain but it was just a big karmic cycle. That was something you don't see often.

6. Xiao Yao- I think her character development and her just travelling through lives and taking no bull makes her my favourite. She was one character they did do justic to.

Now, for the CONS:

1. Ending: One of the biggest cons. I don't know what with a wholesome story with zero angst they decided it is a good decision to put a sad ending.

2. Characters: I thoroughly believe Hong Ye was treated unfairly by the story. But that's just life. Another character was The Demon Slayer who was like one of my favourite at the start but at the end he just became a character I skip every scene of. Another honourable mentions- Dali, PianPian, Tan-er.

3. Power- I see this a lot in recent dramas and maybe many don't mind it but it bugs me. They show narratively strong characters like "The most powerful Demon Lord, blessed by gods!" And the demon lord in the story (after gaining power btw) just stands... I mean this is much better than some "powerful" characters I've seen.

WARNING: First 5-6 episodes are terribly slow but trust the process. It gets good.

4. Kiss- This dramas has like 2 kiss scenes and they are just bad. No movement, no expressions. But I love HMH so I'll let it pass. To me personally good plot is what matters most so I don't mind bad kiss scenes.

Do the cons overpower the pros? No. I recommend you watch it because it is a worthwhile drama and even though the kisses may make you facepalm, the chemistry is good and worthwhile.

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