K-Drama 
Promising Concept, Botched ScreenWriting
Princess Ningjia and Royal Guard Ning Changyue were granted immortal life after the tree spirit Yutu was moved by their display of devotion and love for each other. Fast forward 3000 years later, both are now living in the modern era as Song Yiqiu and Ning Changyue, although they both had fallen out from each other, the former trying her very best to avoid seeing the latter. But as they are bound by immortal oath, Ning appears when Song is involved in a car crash while trying to save a pregnant woman, and Ning asks if Song would give their relationship a try again. Song is tired of living forever, and agrees to do so if Ning would help her break the immortal oath, which involves them finding the tree spirit Yutu who reveals that they had to find a particular map (which is in a form of painting) to break the curse. They go on the last leg of their life together as couple again to break the curse, where Song finally figures out what her true feelings is towards Ning when she encounters her past love interest who had reincarnated as Lu Huai.First off, ive been setting my eyes on Alan Fang ever since A Journey to Love. So I am kinda ready to ‘like’ this drama. The comments looks promising so i went on to watch even though ive never been into minidrama. Well, unfortunately enough, this show definitely ticks the boxes of “why I don’t like minidrama”.
Lack of character build-up? Check!
Abrupt plot hijack? Check!
Characters that don’t make sense? Check!
As much as i liked Alan Fang, I didnt quite like the personality of his character’s modern self. The extreme jealousy is cringy, the clinging to FL is too tropey, and the immature banters are eyeroll worthy. While ML acts immature with his jealousy, FL isn’t any better either. She is selfish and shallow, always thinking about herself and her own feelings and never of ML. She plays victim a lot and I honestly hated her character throughout the series.
Why did the screenwriters write thousands-year-old characters to act like freaking adolescents finding some monkey love i could never guess. They both don’t look like people with thousand years old experiences. They were supposed to be married to each other at some point of their immortal life and yet they acted like they just caught the eyes of their crush. All those awkward moments that’s supposed to be romantic looked so lame instead and incoherent to their hundreds century old background. How did a couple of lovebirds who went through life and death fall out so bad they never explained it either. And the last arc with the eunuch was so ridiculous and dragged down my rating even more. The only thing that was consistent throughout the series are the awesome songs, that definitely managed to save the rating from getting lower. It’s really a pity, the series couldve been an interesting one if they had more backstory and realistic personalities fitting for millennium old characters that should have been wiser and more mature than my 70yo grandma.
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This review may contain spoilers
If only it were longer
I started this with a lot of hesitation bc the love triangle was so tangible I felt like it's going to ruin everything. We had immortality, the estranged couple and a lovefool who won't stop reincarnate. The drama was giving villain in the making vibes and cliche misunderstandings (there are some of those) and I almost dropped it. Thank God I didn't. The 2ML is NOT the villain and at the end everything gets cleared (but the magic watch) and there are no loose ends. The only real problem is time. It's ironic how the protagonists had ample time but the drama not enough to make everything make sense. The ending matches the FL centric theme but I wish it were happier and more realistic leading to a fulfilling life and the inescapable end of all mortals.All in all, it combines angst and humour in a nice balance. If only it were longer....Was this review helpful to you?
Lovely story
The story is very much good, but the it could be longer to give it more depth. The FL wasn't clear about her feeling and wasn't reasonable for the seperation..The production was very good, but they could have a better hairstylist and makeup artist.. As it showed in many scenes a bad look and appearance of the actors and actresses..
In general, it is good to watch
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Jealousy, oh jealousy
Let me start with this: I knew this isn't for me since the trailer. I genuinely don't know why am I keep doing this to myself, but I'm a firm believer that sometimes things surprise you, and it's good trying out different stuff.Ehm, yeah... I was surprised how unserious the drama is. Which, in a way is a good thing. There is a moment where side character turns a scene into a vertical melodrama and narrates it, I think it's suppose to show that the drama is self aware of it's own cringe factor, which you know - kudos, because it is, but that's not really the issue.
There are two things that I can't over and why I'm dropping this, almost half-way through. The jealousy factor and the fact the main leads are acting like teenagers.
1) the jealousy is my personal ick, I admit it, I think there is nothing more unsexy and unattractive than jealous ML - no matter how sexy and attractive Fang Yilun is. I can forgive it when it's done when needed and for the plot, but here is a constant, it's on going, even when he is in a scene alone he is banging on the window, what if my rival is anywhere in 5km radius? It's honestly, unbearable, overcooked and overdone.
2) both FL and ML are 3000 years old. This is a problem because they both behave like they are 15. The immaturity is honestly staggering, yeah, it's suppose to add to the comedy but come on. The constant jealousy fits, the deer like stares from the FL as if she was newborn fawn, girl you are 3 centuries old, get it together.
Btw, 7 episodes in (no spoilers because I don't know) and I can tell you 2ML is going to be the villain. Here is how it's gonna go: 3000 years ago he loved FL, but he couldn't have her, so he attached himself to their curse/magic, but it backfired and now he is reborn without his memories. FL doesn't know he was evil, so she feels for him, but ML does hence the totally justified jealousy fits. 2ML dies and ML/FL live the rest of their lives to the old age happily ever after.
Anyway, I am out of here, if you like love triangles, the jealous CEO type character and can forgive stupidity as a cute trait, I think you will love it. I am not that person.
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An Unexpected Hidden Gem
I got really lucky with my recent set of watches. I was watching multiple dramas at the same time, and I honestly didn’t expect this one to be this captivating. For such a short runtime, it had so many layers, and I thought the 20-minute episodes fit the story perfectly. It never felt stretched out. I especially loved the balance between the modern and ancient timelines and the nonlinear storytelling. Moving back and forth through time kept me engaged, continually refocused my attention, and allowed the drama to give us breadcrumbs about their relationship rather than revealing everything at once. It created this lingering sense of mystery while also making their 3,000-year history feel more meaningful. Their love and resentment weren’t the result of something that happened last week but had accumulated and evolved over centuries. At the same time, seeing that they had been living together for 3,000 years gave their relationship a strong foundation and made their story feel much more layered.I also really enjoyed how different the romance felt from the more conventional love stories we often see in modern Chinese dramas. Instead of the familiar CEO or office romance, this one plays with immortality, spirits, and reincarnation, which gives the relationship a completely different context. It isn’t simply about two people falling in love, overcoming obstacles, and living happily ever after. It explores what love actually means, what happens to it over time, and how people can take each other for granted, build resentment, and misunderstand one another. You watch their understanding of love, life, and immortality change as they grow, and I found that surprisingly poignant for such a short drama.
I also thought the technical and supporting elements came together beautifully. The cinematography, framing, and soundtrack complemented the story without overpowering it, and I loved the balance between humor and more emotional moments. The drama knew when to be silly and when to pull back into the main story, so the humor never became distracting. Even the supporting characters had meaningful sub-arcs that connected to the larger themes rather than feeling like filler. Overall, these elements worked together incredibly well. I genuinely didn’t expect to become this obsessed with it, but I already know I’ll be rewatching it. It’s one of those unexpected hidden gems that just works.
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