Back from the Brink

Could have been so much better

This drama had a nice plotline but the execution and story telling really was disappointing. It lacked depth n intrigue, I wasn't much excited to watch it but I somehow watched it n completed becos i just had nothing more exciting to watch rn. Love story wise it was total disappointment, I didn't feel anything for them as couple, no chemistry too, acting wise evryone was jst okayish, but ml lacked proper expression n so most of the times I felt confused as to whether he is angry, sad, jealous, worried or what as he had only 2 expressions most of the times. But he did well as baby dragon though. I enjoyed him in that part . Riley Wang shined in his role n fl did well too. Idk as the show ended I didn't feel much attached or sad that it ended like i feel for few shows I loved n rewatched , so I don't think I will rewatch this one.

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A tale of trust and betrayal

This drama is all about Tianyao,the Millenium spirit dragon,who has faced betrayal at the time of his marriage and swears never to love again.But through Yanhui,he again dares to fall in love who in return vows to help him find his missing body parts.
The plot was good.The way the sequences unfolded,the difficulties they overcame,how they found the body parts,unlocked the seal and ended the evil in this world was portrayed nicely.
Neo Hou and Zhou Ye did a good job in their roles.The friendship aspect was also good.
The costumes,sets,music,fights, supporting actors were all good.
This drama is sure entertaining and you will not regret watching it.

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Pretty Average Not Worth the binge (better if you just want side entertainment when cleaning lol)

I have a lot of things to say about this show. Let's get into it!!

LOVE TRIANGLE + OTHER RELATIONSHIPS
< Tian Yao & Yan Hui & Bai Xiao Sheng >
I despise love triangles, I hate it so much, there's so many issues with love triangles which I won't get into, just wanted to point this out that I absolutely hate it. However, it wasn't as terrible in this show for the main leads + second lead. At first the relationship between Yun Hui and Bai Xiao Sheng was super funny, every time they had a scene together I laughed because they feel like they would share the same brain cell sometimes, and it was so funny when he was the matchmaker for Tian Yao and Yan Hui. So at first they felt like best friends so I was so relieved their wasn't going to be a love triangle when he appeared, oh dear I was wrong. After a little bit I kinda did ship them just a little, however that was only because I thought Bai Xiao Sheng wouldn't end up liking her and how there wouldn't be a love triangle and how I was wrong yah that, and then he did end up liking her so then I had to feel bad, only up until when they needed to "fake" their relationship to achieve the book. During that arc that was when I stopped shipping them, and realized they aren't really compatible with another, and I ended up thinking their relationship felt better as friends, because of how Tian Yao had been the type of person to pay attention to Yan Hui to know her more, while Bai Xiao Sheng didn't kept attention to Yan Hui in that way, so then it felt more like a crush? Maybe even admiration, or just love without the romantic aspect. Anywho, so this love triangle wasn't as painful and it did make me support the main couple for sure. So his rejection, I don't feel at all bad, because I don't ship them anymore.

< Su Ying & Lu Mu Sheng & Yun Xi >
Now this love triangle here, so messy like what the actual heck is going on? Su Ying is obsessed with a man she saw a few time like we only got like 3 different scenes locations of them together, and it makes no sense, there's no real history between them that explains her undying love for this man. 40 episodes, I was waiting to know how the heck did she fall in love with him THIS BADLY, why the heck did he forget about her, and married another women for 20 years? Like there's not enough information about this damn love triangle at all. We are just expected to know, this women loved this man because of these 3 scenes, and this man doesn't remember her, even though he worked his ahh off to learn how to fight alongside her allegedly because he get no scenes about this just words, but despite his achievement for the women he said he loves, he suddenly was married with another women that we don't even know how they met, and how he forgot about Su Ying, nothing about what the heck happened during those 20 years. It really irks me because I really wanted to know what is their deep level of relationship that makes her this obsessed to keep him alive no matter what, how in the world did he end up with Yun Xi, like what the heck is going on I need more context. I really pitied Su Ying's sister, Ling Fei. She was already wrongfully taught by her community, and then misguided by her delusional elder sister, so yah it's understandable she ended up with so much hatred. (Thought I don't support her she was really irritating in the show.)

< Tian Yao & Su Ying >
How the heck did Su Ying seduce Tian Yao? Like I swear there is not enough context for big relationships like these that takes up so much of the story and character trauma, like no context what so ever. How did he make him fall in love with her, how long did it even take, like I can just image her not even smiling at all around him, so did he like that? Was she so mysterious he wanted to MARRY HER? Like history man, I need the history between them too.

STORY + LEADS
The story was honestly kind boring. It was surprisingly a tad bit more enjoyable when I watched it on 1.25x speed on Youtube lmfao. The FL wasn't too irritating however her character is also pretty boring, even though she was kind of over powered I did slightly enjoyed her not being weak, and being able to save the ML (which is almost all the freaking time so girl power!) The leads only kiss about I wanna say 2 or 3 times so this show is very PG13. The leads aren't bad, like I mentioned in the 'Love Triangle' section, they are written to be pretty compatible, and with Bai Xiao Sheng being the second lead, it made me not ship them with anyone else. My only complaint is that their relationship isn't that memorable. What I mean by this is that, they are plain and boring so the entire 40 episodes, and when they had the flashbacks, I didn't care for it because those weren't very memorable main lead experiences for me to sob over for. The acting wasn't so bad, though the actor for Tian Yao made the same "concerning" expression over and over again made me kind of hope he give me other expressions. His baby egg hatched era was just not for me either.

DEATHS IMPACT LEVEL (in summary / horrible)
1. Yan Hui's Master = Zero Impact
Again, I'm a big softie towards elders dying in shows, however his death wasn't impactful for me. It's because the relationship between the Master and Yan Hui is way too weak for me to care about what they had, and the time they had together. The flashback was just a waste of scene time.
2. Yan Hui = No Impact Either
I couldn't emotionally attach myself to this character (or any character in the show honestly)
3. Fu Yin
His downfall/defeat felt so rushed or not as impactful as it was escalated to be.
4. Zhu Li's Father = What the heck was that death...
Bro... his death was the most disappointing of all like, I can't stand sacrifices like this. He might as well went with him what the actual heck.
5. Zhu Li's Mother = Eh
She was an extra character that was added onto the origins of the plot. I will say the actress for her is gorgeous

ANIMATION
The animation really through me off honestly lol. It felt so goofy and silly I just couldn't take anything seriously.

ENDING + OVERALL
The ending sucks. Well not suck, but was very underwhelming though I didn't expect much since the story was already pretty boring. This BIGGEST weakness of this show is the lack of developing the relationships, and the story, context, history. I don't want just a simple 2 minutes back story if it isn't impactful. There are short back stories from different shows that are so beautiful that I wished they were longer, for this show, these short backstory need to be longer to understand the characters as well as the story.

Hopefully I covered everything I needed to say in this review. :)

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Brings out the emotional side of one's being!!!

The title would definitely be like of course it does bring out the emotion but what about it? Of course it did not make me cry as much as the red sleeve did or made me laugh as much as the business proposal and it didn't make me binge watch it as much like the lighter and the princess nor was it a hidden gem like fall in love but it had all of this...
It started out strong and finished strong... It's not easy to do that but it actually did.
The characters were superb I actually did not know the FL before this and now I am a fan .. Neo Hou well the last time I enjoyed his show was a girl like me and he has come a way from that show and boy I'm I glad I decided to give it a chance...
Bai xiaosheng was the one character that made me like and dislike him the whole drama and I prefer him here to song of the moon....

The OST!!! Oh my loved it not all songs are worth remembering compared to hotel de Luna or even the long ballad in my pov but it's OST is better than most this past year....

The whole drama as a whole was really nice... All I can say is that it is worth watching and the romance as a whole was not too little and not too much just enough seasoning...

What I did not like was that somewhere in the middle it kind of lost its plotline and scattered its plotline but got along its path eventually...
The millenium spirit dragon was not as strong as I hoped and imagined him to be...now that was a disappointed!!! He was saved by his woman most of the time but the upside was he would rather save her first in lieu of his life which was unexpected loved it

Would you chose to save the one person you love or the whole world????

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YanHui is best girl!

I LOVE this show very much! It is def in my top 5 favorite C-Drama of the new era (80s & 90s will always be considered the golden era in my opinion). I needed a show to love after LBFAD & the Starry Love showed up! I needed another show to get me over the Starry Love, and Back from the Brink premiered!

I appreciated the growth of the characters individually as well as the growths shown in the different relationships. It was not love at first sight for the leads and they didn’t have an antagonistic relationship for the sake of tension or drama. The development of the relationship between the leads was gradual, organic, and mature. The choices they made made sense. The ML is great but honestly the FL in this story was what made it a top tier show. Yan Hui was such a good, well rounded female character. She was smart, strong, and kind. She was also not afraid to show emotions and let people know how she felt. Her communications skills were the best- I appreciated it so much because I hate miscommunication tropes that lead to misunderstandings. In this show, the leads, especially Yanhui, were pretty honest with each other. YanHui was always upfront with her love, her hate, and her fears. She is so far one of my favorite FL.

The supporting characters were interesting too and none of them outstayed their welcome. I was worried about the 2ML and how his story would play out but I am so glad that they didn’t do anything stupid with him. He didn’t automatically fall in love with the FL but when he did, I understood why. It made sense and I loved how their relationship also developed. And most importantly, the friendship between the women in the show was also the reason why I enjoyed this show so much. I HATE HATE HATE it when the FL have no women as friends. It doesn’t make sense to me when shows have women hating women due to jealousy or envy or whatever. I hate it even more when they’re sisters. They seldom ever do that with ML (unless it’s for the throne which I get). The storyline made sense and there was logic to the choices everyone made, even if it was on the obsessive toxic side. Adults actually acting like adults. What a concept! Anyways, this a fun show that made me laugh and cry. Highly recommend it!

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It is watchable, but it could have been so much better.

I dropped this drama at episode 15 when the story took a turn for worse. The second male lead, whom I really thought was unique and different, morphed into the typical jealous second male lead. And then Tian Yao did something mind boggling that didn't make sense. Then the three of them wandered around this alternate dimension...
It took me about a month to brave the drama again, but this time I skipped some episodes, started at episode 20.
And I binged in a few days. The story got decidedly more interesting and ironically it wasn't the main couple that pulled me back but the story of the King of Qinqui and his twin brother.
Wow, the actor played both roles amazingly.
What I like about this drama is that the bad guys have good reasons to be bad. I find myself sympathetic to their grievances and hope somehow that they can getter a better life in the next life or something.
Also, there were other couples in this drama whose romance I enjoyed. Some ended well, some tragically, and I felt for them.
That said, this drama is something that make me sigh in sadness. It would be soooo good. The two lead actors while not mindblowing ly great or have awesome chemistry, were good. But they were hobbled by the subpar script.

Full review including video: https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2023/09/27/back-from-the-brink-review/

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The most fun and best xianxia of 2023!

Where to even begin. This story is set in a world where humans and spirits of all kinds coexist. There is a sort of enmity between them yet some fall in love with each other. Enter our main leads, a dragon that was betrayed by his ex and had to throw his heart scale away and our fl a Taoist, that was born with a heart disease and is alive due to that heart scale. And thus ensues the most fun adventure.

The best part of this drama is definitely the characters and the humour. Our main leads have a firy chemistry since the first time they meet. There interactions and bickering is just too fun to watch.

The fl in this drama is my favorite fl ever. She is strong and smart. Yet kind and fun. What she lacks in magic, she just uses brute force to cover. I've never once seen a fl so logical and soo relatable. She holds are grudges well and I'm so glad for it. She also pays back her favors ten fold. The most adorable, smart and downright beutiful soul fl I've ever seen.

The ml is just as adorable too. Hou Ming Hao 's acting really suprised me. He just has so much emotions. He suffers quietly. The ml probably has been through the most in this drama yet he has the purest heart of all.

The second ml Bai Xiaosheng, I won't lie I liked him better when he was a matchmaker to our couple. Later when he falls in love with the fl I kinda disliked him. But don't worry it lasts only 2-3 episodes and he is back to being the best matchmaker ever.

Then comes the supporting casts. ZhuLi and Huang Xiao Yan, these two are soo soo cute. Adorable kids fall in love and try their best to protect each other. Xiangge and Feng Qing Shou probably has the hottest setup in the story. Rival business owners who actually love each other. They have a beautiful relationship too.

My favorite parts in the drama is when all the three couples gather together, helping each other or just having fun. The friendship in this drama really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

There are so many other couples that were tragic. The snake man and monastery's QinYu. Xi Feng and Pufang. Chen Yi and Xue Lin, Lu Musheng and Fox Princess, etc. I liked their story bits too.

I really liked the wise old men Shifu and brush Sprite as well as Yan Hui's senior Zi Chen. As for the villains they are despicable but I like how none of them are one dimensional, they all have a proper reason to be how they are.

Bonus: the songs are super nice. Also this drama has a really beautiful opening ;)

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I have no problem with the Casting.. The actors and actresses did their part.. When I first watch the Episode 1 I was so hooked up and anticipated for the next Episodes.. As for the reason why the story rating is low because I find the Script or Plot Bad.. The first episodes script was good then as soon as the episodes goes on the plot became Good Script to Bad Script.. Some scripts I find it irrelevant or extras... This could've been good if Only the Scriptwriter reviews the script or study over and over again, or well, how will the viewers react.. Because a bad script would end up negative reviews for actors or actresses.. While good script will bring them to a good review.. That's all for now.. Thou some episodes are roller coaster.. Still I find more episodes interesting.. I'll keep watching it and I'm only watching this because I like Neo Hou and Riley Wang.. Plus bonus for Yang Rong, Zhai Kai Ying, Zhou Ye and the rest of the cast 😅☺️☺️

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Too much romance and comedy, and 2nd ML smile was enough to kill me

just beautiful masterpiece, light hearted drama if you're suffering from till the end of moon you can go for it, FL is kinda immature and weak in beginning but afterwards she do behaves like intelligent one, i love the opening ost just like the chef's kiss. i like the concept that fl never betrayed the ML and made him realize that true love do exist.
and all the 2nd 3rd love story going on didn't had any argument and fight they were sweet to each other which i love about this drama as it didn't give the viewers any heart wrenching scenes except ml and fl love story
happy ending with beautiful costumes worth giving a try 👍

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I want to erase my memory to be able to experience this drama again for the first time

Where do I start, I have only superlatives to say about this drama. I jumped onto watching as soon as I recognized Zhou Ye, I loved her so much in Word of Honour. Neo Hou is so adorable, such a great actor too. The character of Bai Xiao Sheng has my heart (can I have him if he's still single /jk). Now, I'm the type of person who always questions actions and storyline. Would this character do this, why did this character not catch this thing happening since he usually knows about everything in the city, why did they do such a gut punch with the storyline etc. And you know what? Such questions never once crossed my mind once when I was watching Back from the Brink! It is such an exceptionally well executed story, I love it with all my heart. The story is so well paced, the storyline is interesting, the acting is top tier, the effects and costumes are superb. The drama is adorable, it's cute, it's lovey-dovey, it's goofy and funny but also has action in the right spots. It was exactly what needed at the time I was watching it. What I especially liked, there wasn't a moment in the storyline where writers would do a "reversing the car on the highway because you missed an exit" turn of the storyline. Just.... I really highly recommend this drama to anyone. It even has a good ending! And one last note, get your tissues ready for the final episode, I teared up so much.

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