This review may contain spoilers
Obsession
This story was really slow at the beginning. I literally stopped watching several times and kept going because of all the good reviews. But it really picked up around episode 15 and I just kept watching.The only part I didn't understand was Suying's obsessions and her refusal to see that she is unhinged. Because of her obsession with a man who didn't want her, she was used to attack the dragon who was ready to marry her. She then justified her actions by calling him and all demons evil when they were just existing. And everyone was like, yup let's agree with her. No other human was like, wait didn't you attack him, how is he evil? Because of her obsession with the man, she killed his wife in front of him and was mad that he still didn't want to be with her. Everything she did was supposedly for the man but she just couldn't get over the fact that he didn't want her or that the dragon ultimately got away.
These people ignored the fact that the whole family was crazy and just let her do whatever.
And the Phantom Lord, what was wrong with him? Why was he giving off hunchback drag queen?
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This review may contain spoilers
Funny, fun, romantic, and beautiful
This is on my rewatch list. Just finished the series for a 2x time. Found it funnier than the 1st time thru. Literally lol numerous times. Quirky bits and piece that purposely makes fun of itself and ensures no one gets too serious. Don't look for historical accuracy or realism here. Just go along for the ride and you'll have a blast.Some annoying side stories and not much screen time of them being an actual couple but the build up is beautiful. Significant growth and development for the ML.
The last few eps were confusing and had too much unnecessary stuff going in then the last ep seemed rushed. Other than that, it's a happy ending story with minimal annoying side people.
Exceptionally good visual production. Beautiful people, backgrounds, sets and costumes.
Acting is excellent with the exception of the 2nd ML. Riley is cute and fun but seems overly dramatic with some of his facial expressions. Loved the child actors interacting with Neo.
Lastly, no real kisses just a couple scenes with their lips touching. I guess I need to see more romantic dramas with Neo and see if he's like this all the time or maybe it was just poor direction. Despite this, this show is a dreamy fantasy love story that's a feast for the eyes.
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Likeable characters and a fun watch
BFTB remains one of my favorite Cdramas. This is a fun watch with a great story, likeable characters, and great humor. Humor is a little subjective but this one jibed with me- I laughed out loud many times. The show is also pretty straightforward in who to root for and who not to, with a nice anti-racist underlying message and only a few characters to feel ambiguous about. This makes it easier on my emotions. (There is still heartache, but only just enough).Yanhui, the female lead, remains one of my favorite characters in a drama. Although she’s not particularly skilled or strong, she is self-aware and down-to-earth. No BS; she sees situations for what they are and calls it out. She is cute, funny, and not a racist. She’s also great in a lot more subtle ways… I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. Zhou Ye plays this cheerful character quite well.
The male lead, Tianyao, is a little stiff, but also fairly likeable and oh-so-good looking… great styling for Neo. I thought the development of his relationship with the FL was exceptionally good for about 15 episodes. They are both so sweet and have a mutual respect, I loved watching their relationship grow.
Then the Dragon Valley story arc happened. I found both of their behaviors a bit annoying during the arc, but overshadowed in annoyingness by what happens next. Less than halfway through the drama, a nonsensical event occurs to stir up trouble. It made no sense, even after it was explained. The development after this fallout was fine, just the plot point felt so forced that it took away from my enjoyment of watching them recover. For my own sanity I ended up just seeing it as a device to advance the plot (something has to happen with this outcome) rather than looking too carefully at what actually happened.
The second male lead, Bai Xiaosheng (aka dimples guy), was a drama addition who was not in the book. I personally thought he was hilarious. Loved his style, which I think also matches Riley’s personality. Unfortunately after the nonsense plot point mentioned above, he becomes less likeable. I feel he got used for plot development; he’s forced into a silly love triangle that doesn’t match his personality, and he never stood a chance. Even accepting this, his trajectory afterwards is a missed opportunity… they could easily have done a lot more to develop his character in the latter half of the show. Instead, he gets sidelined. Poor guy.
There were also several likeable side characters in their merry band of friends, many broken up neatly into side couples. I enjoyed seeing them on screen, but they weren’t as captivating to me as the main characters.
The villains are a mixed bag. Suying might have been interesting but ends up being a bit too obsessive and one-dimensional. She spoke so slowly and mostly said predictable things, I wanted to fast forward through all her dramatic speeches. The story of the twins is sad. Unfortunately the main villain is somewhat one-dimensional and not very interesting, also shows up midway out of nowhere. I do wish he were more nuanced and less cliché, but ultimately I enjoyed the protagonists’ story enough to overlook this lameness.
I thought the sets were pretty and the costumes looked good- the colors of the clothing often reflect the character. I also liked the music, both BGM and songs. I will point out, though, that the CGI is kind of bad. It makes the entire thing feel lower budget. This didn’t matter as much for me because I’m here for the story, but I did have to laugh a few times at how bad it was.
There was some sloppiness in filming, like things moving around between when the camera cuts away and back. And of course, regular inconsistencies and plot holes, both big and small. This was the first xianxia I watched so I don’t know if I’d still be so horrified now that I’m more used to a bit of nonsense.
Ultimately, despite some flaws, this is still one of my favorite shows and the only one so far that I have fully rewatched. I like the lighthearted feel and lovable characters. It does get darker towards the end, as many shows do, but it still has some humor even in the last 10 episodes.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is happy, but also a typical rushed and unsatisfying Cdrama ending. It’s probably one of the worse ones I’ve seen, because random things happen out of nowhere. Couldn’t they have played fewer flashbacks near the end and used that valuable airtime to explain some things?
The resolution of the final conflict is very confusing. Explosions, sparkles, and dramatic-looking scenes are great and all, but what I really care about is what’s going on. My bafflement changed to vague horror as I started to realize the net outcome, which was looking quite sad… then in the last minute or so, everything turns around and an unexplained happy ending arrives. Fin.
They had to deviate from the novel because censorship bans reincarnation, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse. I was really attached to the characters by the end of this drama and wish we had gotten more closure.
Sometimes I read the novel or just its epilogues to get closure, but in this case the novel seemed quite different- my beloved characters were a bit less lovable, and the ending premise was also different- so I didn’t bother. Random fan theories on reddit helped me come up with a conclusion of what happened.
By the way, Yanhui’s transformation into a dark magic user in the last 10 episodes wasn’t in the book, but I think it worked well with the plot and story development of the drama. Still, I thought it came a bit out of nowhere and her change in personality was a bit jarring. It probably could have been pulled off better.
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Not bad one
Starting of the story I liked it then 2,3 and 4th episodes ,I didn't like it. For a while I thought drama is for kids . Too much animated devils looked fake . After 7th episode I guess story picked up and I started liking the story . For this story one's needs patience. Actors were good and acting too . I like the lead male acting more when he become kid. He acted so naturally that it looked like that he actually became kid.Indirect happy ending had been shown in the drama. But I am not happy with the ending.
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It's better than what I expected
LIKEHow the entire saga between Tian Yao and Su Ying was due to greediness of some evil force
The painful moments of Tian Yao and Yan Hui because of numerous misunderstandings - I'm insane like that..
DISLIKE
Su Ying's love for Lu Mu Sheng driving her to path of no return - it's touching but at the exchange of someone else's death
MUSIC - personal fav
浮游 Fu You - 周深 Zhou Shen
风吹过 Feng Cui Guo - 刘宇宁 Liu Yu Ning
启明星 Qi Ming Xing - 侯明昊 Hou Ming Hao
涅槃 Nie Pan - 炎明熹 Yan Ming Xi
飘雪 Piao Xue - 薛黛霏 Xue Dai Fei
REWATCH VALUE
Five for now
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This review may contain spoilers
What i liked and disliked, and what kind of ending it is.
Back from the brink is a story about Yan Hui ( the female lead ) potrayed as a taoist discipline who's supposted to protect people from demons, the male lead, Tian Yao, however is an ancient demon dragon.It is a romance between two different worlds, which makes it really complicated but also adds great depth to their relationship.
What i liked:
- Story/Plot overall, bit different from all the xianxias which is what i liked.
- Cgi/ special effects, im very picky when it comes to special effects, and most of the time i hate it, but here i found them great.
- Actors, great choice, in my opinion they fit their roles perfectly, Neo is amazing playing a demon.
- costumes/sets, costume change later on was a great visual cue, reflecting the inner transformation, noticed nd loved it.
- character development and side characters
What i disliked:
- Pacing, heavy on pacing, it couldve been less episodes in my opinion.
- How complicated it became sometimes. I guess story becoming complicated adds depth but it also makes u really confused. Random filler episodes and breaks from the main plot, as well as main plot totally shifting to a different one..... not my cup of tea personally.
Neutral:
- Mood changes, from really sad and tragic to comedy to yet sad again to happy, a bit of a rollercoaster tbh but I am okay with that
- ending, personally it was an okay ending for this type of story. (happy one if u are wondering)
Overall rating: 9.0
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Love the visuals of the main leads!!
Before I start my review, allow me to show my biggest admiration for all the great music themes of 'Back From The Brink' has. The opening song of this series is one of the reasons I like watching the series from the beginning till the end, and knowing that the male main lead, Hou Ming Hao/Neo Hou also sings one of the tracks from the ost gives me more excitement to watch it and let me tell you, his song really fits the moments between the two main characters (Tian Yao and Yan Hui). Every time his song is played during their moments I cannot help myself from not falling for his soothing voice.Honestly, I have never seen the works of these two main leads (Hou Ming Hao and Zhou Ye) before and I must say that pairing them up together in this series is an undeniably great choice. They look cute as well as sweet together and both obviously have amazing visuals. They are still young and I believe with their hard work they will become megastars in the future.
I hope people will stop comparing 'Back From The Brink' to other series as we all know each series has their own plus and minus. For me, personally, there are some scenes or moments I think that's really unnecessary in 'Back From The Brink', but they don't stop me from watching this series, and for the record, I just finished watching it last night. I think the ending is a bit satisfying although I hope there's more explanation to some things that I find them odd to figure. In spite of that, I'm quite contented with the whole thing.
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How to mess a possibly good story
Betrayed millenium dragon spirit meets a girl from hostile sect and slowly falls in love with her. They start as enemies, who have to cooperate with each other to survive. But what looked like a good start of long adventure, ended as a long set of fillers coming one by another.It was a story of trust and betrayal... and communication. Some events were complete mess. Why ML didn't communicate in the most crucial times? That could save a lot of problems. Would 10 seconds be too long to explain FL why he had to hurt her the most cruel way and abandon her? Simple words... "don't worry, I will return" would be enough.
Since it is a xianxia, there were many sects (or clans). As usually we got the good ones (spirits, monsters) and evil ones (those wearing white clothes) - here they were called Taoists. In other stories they are named as a sect of light or heaven sect, etc... I wonder why chinese people hate these sects so much? Isn't Taoism one of national religions in China? Why members of these sects are usually the worst scum in the whole fantasy world?
All wasn't that bad. The story was suspensive with several funny parts and its mysteries were interesting enough to continue watching. Until it became too dragged. When it looked like everything calmed down and leads can be finally happy, sudden random twist happened and threw everything back into the chaos. And then we got the last minute unexplained happy ending.
So did I like the story?
I can't say that I hated it... but I also can't say that I liked it. The story was messed and as I read, also too different from the original novel (just hearsay). Some characters were added to bring the cliches everyone loves (sarcasm)... like love triangles (represented by one annoying SML). Even though he had some good parts, his character was unnecessary and non existent in the novel.
What I liked?
- relationship of main leads. Even though he just wanted to use her at start, their relationship became strong - full of trust.
- acting - I don't need it too be perfect and sometimes it is hard to say what is bad acting and what is perfect just according the role. So since I didn't have a feeling they are just actors, I liked it.
- music, sounds and effects
- Zhou Ye - she was amazing in Love Me, Love My Voice and that is why I also started this drama.
For some people it might be good and interesting story. If you like drama and many twists then give it a try. I more prefer fluffiness - easy to watch story with many fluffy and happy events. So it wasn't my cup of tea, but still not so bad to drop it. If you are like myself and didn't see Love Me, Love My Voice yet... then watch rather that.
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An Unforgettable Drama!
Back from the Brink was truly an unforgettable drama that left a lasting impression. What stood out most to me was the incredible female lead, Yan Hui. She was witty, intelligent, and fiercely independent - far from the typical damsel in distress. I loved how she wasn’t just waiting to be rescued; instead, she actively protected herself and others, showing strength, empathy, and compassion throughout the series.The dynamic between the main leads was another highlight. Yan Hui and Tian Yao often fought side by side, their teamwork seamless and powerful. Their bond was built on mutual respect and trust, which made their partnership both heartwarming and thrilling to watch.
What I appreciated most was that Back from the Brink flipped the usual script - Yan Hui was the true hero. She saved Tian Yao countless times, and in the end, it was her strength and resolve that made the biggest difference. Her character didn’t just break stereotypes; she redefined what it means to be a female lead in a fantasy drama.
Yan Hui’s compassion and refusal to discriminate between races made her even more admirable. She constantly put others before herself and genuinely felt the pain of those around her. Her emotional depth and moral courage made her a standout character in every way.
Overall, Back from the Brink delivered a compelling story with a standout heroine who stole the spotlight. Yan Hui was everything I could ask for in a lead - smart, strong, compassionate, and fiercely heroic.
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had all the feels
this is part of my top favorites xianxia and wuxia cdrama Back to the Brink, Lost you forever, till the end of the moon, are probably my top three most favorite! although I enjoyed love between fairy and devil and I’m already halfway I just couldn’t finish it.. I don’t know why. Anyway the chemist from Back to the brink is so good, The only time I disliked Zhou ye the female lead was in her other drama I instantly dropped it (everyone loves me)back to the brink had me bawling my eyes out, it also made me laugh numerous times, had so much butterflies during sweet moments, had me so mad with some effectively annoying antagonists.
The only thing I hoped for, some flashbacks kept of resurfacing, ending felt rushed. it was a happy ending but I hope they had more time to somehow made it more meaningful, seeing them reunite with friends, and the kiss was so short. other than those it was such a good xianxia cdrama.
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Decent way to pass the time
I went into this Cdrama with the hope that it would be a good follow up to Love Between Fairy and Devil and Till the End of the Moon based on the reviews here.One of the draws was that reviewers said this had a happy ending. I guess compared to other Cdramas, this does have a happy ending. But just like many of the recent Cdramas I've watched, the ending is rushed and sloppy, and you only get like 3 minutes of a resolution.
There are amusing moments, but many more moments where the story dragged. The acting was mid at best, with a very wooden ML and a FL whose most memorable point is shouting the ML's name a million times. To give credit to the ML, he does show some animation at one point later in the story, at least.
Their chemistry was lacking big time. Very minimal in terms of showing affection - you get a couple of lip pressed to lip moments that are more chaste and awkward than anything else. The hugs were stiff as well. So if you wanted something with a bit more intimacy, keep on looking and give this a pass.
I think the first half of the show was much more interesting than the latter half. The real villain was a joke. Suying was much more enjoyable as a villain tbh, and a lot less melodramatic.
Overall, i enjoyed it enough as a brainless palate cleanse, but i dont feel this has much rewatch value to it.
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