BluesDogma

The Long Ballad was well... long. It definitely dragged at points. I must say the characters were well written. I loved their development, although not all of it was well executed (i.e., Le Yan's development had to be pointed out by all the characters around her but was not obvious as a viewer). Still, I feel like any character could have been the protagonist and I would root for them, including the main villainess. I did not like the haphazardly thrown-in animation scenes; there was no rhyme or reason. It seemed like someone messed up in post and lost footage, or they ran out of budget. Finally, my biggest complaint was the poorly done romance. I felt no spark in any of the pairings. I get that romance wasn't the focus, but I wanted more. Overall enjoyable watch for the hero's journey and varying character perspectives.