This review may contain spoilers
Trees gives courage to the soul , so I'll be honest...
(positive : 🌿 green leaf
Negative: 🍁 red leaf )
The drama stars with Su Yi Shui the disciple of Mu Qing Ge the demoness , killing her to save the world. Qingge cursed Yi Shui and her sect , so Yi Shui didn't had any choice but to offer his half core to the divine tree and help her to reborn to lift the curse. But as the story continues we get to know the reality was completely different.
**Cinematography and production**:🌿
Have to praise the cinematography cause it's really good. The production and editing team did amazing job to make it feel natural and grounded. It giving high budget Vibes. And we got sword fights, real hand to hand combat and amazing action scenes that is stunning. Not your typical xianxia hand gesture fighting ! I didn't had much expectations from it but LOTDT gave a pleasant surprise.
The costumes and makeup is not overly done either so , it's pleasant to eyes. No whitewash, no flashy set and you can feel how carefully they created the setup .
**Male lead**🌿
I liked the male lead so far. He's smart, strong and scheming .... Su Yi Shui is that savage character who can slap or choke the annoying characters for us !
And have to say Deng Wei did amazing job in portraying Su Yi Shui.
**Female lead**🌿🍁
First time watching Julia. Her acting is admirable .She portrayed Mu Qing Ge and Xue RanRan so differently that it feels like they're different person. I developed girl crush on Mu Qing Ge. As for Xue RanRan she's your typical bubbly xianxia female lead. who can get away with anything by luck, without any consequences. Still the good thing is she improves in her cultivation .
I'm personally not a fan of childish characters. Initially I liked her but as the series continues , XRR turns into a bothersome character - like behaving like a child , forced smiling and over talking . Personally I think the voice actress's voice doesn't suits XRR at all .
**Story** 🍁
Of course we get a flashback that showed the past perfectly within 4 episodes and made us fall for Qingge too . And in ep 8 we come back to the present smoothly and the story continues .but the pace slowed down. Apparently it gives different dynamic between our leads
Flirty and badass fl x villainous ml
Bubbly fl x cold ml
Your shifu x I'm disciple
I'm shifu x you're disciple
The Plot is not completely original or unique . The storyline felt very weak compared to the production to me .
*Check*
Let me sacrifice for you, no I'll die for you ✔️
It's okay if you misunderstand me cause I'll die for you ✔️
I'll bring you back to life ✔️
ill fated main lead who has evil bone ✔️
Annoying second female lead ✔️
Obsessive second male lead ✔️
Cutesy bubbly female lead ✔️
Evil and hypocrite immortals ✔️
Clown brainless villains ✔️
Amnesia ✔️
It feels kind of mixture of all xianxia dramas specially it is showing significant similarities with "Till the end of moon".
I felt like they tried to create Dejavu effect by repeating the plot like shifu-disciple or giving similar circumstances to SYS as MQG . It works for a certain period but after that it feels draggy and boring .
** Chemistry**🌿🍁
Mu Qing Ge and Su Yi Shui's chemistry is the best part for me in this story. I loved how Mu Qing Ge cared for him and he developed crush on her. I liked the scenes when Mu Qing Ge opened the door for him , him secretly kissing her forehead...
She approached the potential devil with kind intention and tired to save him from the beginning. Unlike other xianxias where ml or fl tries to save the ill-fated person only after they fallen in love with them.
As for SYS and XRR , it is like cold ml and bubbly fl dynamic . But the chemistry between XRR and SYS feels forced to me . we got more chemistry between MQG and SYS in 4 episodes than all episodes with XRR and SYS .
**Cultivation**🌿
I love how the drama added the real xianxia novel or Donghua cultivation here . And it gives us an idea about the power system. They cultivate , practice and improves .
**Villains**🍁
The villains are one dynamic with background story. I get it that they have a hidden villain but the visible villains are like **Team Rocket**.
They have their reasons to do the evil works .But still they're unrealistic.
Given their background it was possible to add some new theme and dynamic !
Take example of Mu Ran Wu, (personal opinion)
yeah I know she's evil , selfish and beyond redemption But if you think logically,
Mu Ranwu is not heavenly gifted. she was repeatedly compared with her talented sister. From her viewpoint her sister cared about others more than her so her spirit root got destroyed . She lived in MQG's shadow, others saw her as a burden and the person she loved fall for her sister !
Then she does a lot of evil things from killing her sister to stealing her talents and identity blah blah .....yes she is annoying and dumb clown and my problem is this same "annoying unrealistic villainess trope" . Who's sole purpose is to make the "Heroine" shine !
But it was possible to make her a realistic character, there was a potential to create a decent villain who can make us feel sympathize with her .
If not then at least give her brain !?
not to mention "Wei Jiu" who is a cheap version of demon villains . He's here to get beat up by SYS and add some comedy .
These villains are giving some nice comedy....but not much threat or weightage to the plot .
**Supporting characters**🍁
I have not found a supporting character whom I can root for. They're in the plot, but they don't have much value or important roles. Let's take example of some problematic supporting characters--
Su Yu : A character I don't know what to feel about. Sometimes he feels like a nice guy and other time obsessive 2nd lead . He's shown as a smart character but as he knew both MQG and MRW he should have been able to recognize her first. Guess what ! Even people who didn't know MQG personally could recognize her. As MRW *openly showing* her true nature . But he is just *suspecting* her for more than a year!
He's obsessed with *Mu Qing Ge* he doesn't care about her change in behavior or wrong doings as long as it's *her*.
SYS' mother: she doesn't has much screen time but I felt something is wrong with her character. She physically and Emotionally abused Su Yi Shui when he was a kid ! She literally tortured him , abandoned him in snow (where he could die) . And she did it cause of his future? So he will not live a poor life ?
How many times she checked on him after he went to the prince villa ? What about her having a happy life with her lover+ child and shut the door in his face after he already became a prince and came to visit her in his birthday?
I felt it wrong how they normalized *child abuse* here .....
I can't take the fact that she *sacrificed her life* for Su Yi shui and got redemption and respect !
**Finally**🌿🍁
I have kind of love-hate relationship with "xianxia" genre . I can't tolerate dramatic xianxia tropes but I love fantasy very much. The starting was strong but as the story continued it became draggy , repetitive and lost it's initial charm !
The action scenes, costumes, visuals, production and CGI are really good . I will not say the world building is best here, but it's not bad either. As we are given a chance to explore the Mortal realm , divine realm, conscious realm, royal family, immortal-demon sects etc. Also the ost is really beautiful.
So , if you love xianxia or Wuxia you can give it a chance .Overall LOTDT is okay to me .
Negative: 🍁 red leaf )
The drama stars with Su Yi Shui the disciple of Mu Qing Ge the demoness , killing her to save the world. Qingge cursed Yi Shui and her sect , so Yi Shui didn't had any choice but to offer his half core to the divine tree and help her to reborn to lift the curse. But as the story continues we get to know the reality was completely different.
**Cinematography and production**:🌿
Have to praise the cinematography cause it's really good. The production and editing team did amazing job to make it feel natural and grounded. It giving high budget Vibes. And we got sword fights, real hand to hand combat and amazing action scenes that is stunning. Not your typical xianxia hand gesture fighting ! I didn't had much expectations from it but LOTDT gave a pleasant surprise.
The costumes and makeup is not overly done either so , it's pleasant to eyes. No whitewash, no flashy set and you can feel how carefully they created the setup .
**Male lead**🌿
I liked the male lead so far. He's smart, strong and scheming .... Su Yi Shui is that savage character who can slap or choke the annoying characters for us !
And have to say Deng Wei did amazing job in portraying Su Yi Shui.
**Female lead**🌿🍁
First time watching Julia. Her acting is admirable .She portrayed Mu Qing Ge and Xue RanRan so differently that it feels like they're different person. I developed girl crush on Mu Qing Ge. As for Xue RanRan she's your typical bubbly xianxia female lead. who can get away with anything by luck, without any consequences. Still the good thing is she improves in her cultivation .
I'm personally not a fan of childish characters. Initially I liked her but as the series continues , XRR turns into a bothersome character - like behaving like a child , forced smiling and over talking . Personally I think the voice actress's voice doesn't suits XRR at all .
**Story** 🍁
Of course we get a flashback that showed the past perfectly within 4 episodes and made us fall for Qingge too . And in ep 8 we come back to the present smoothly and the story continues .but the pace slowed down. Apparently it gives different dynamic between our leads
Flirty and badass fl x villainous ml
Bubbly fl x cold ml
Your shifu x I'm disciple
I'm shifu x you're disciple
The Plot is not completely original or unique . The storyline felt very weak compared to the production to me .
*Check*
Let me sacrifice for you, no I'll die for you ✔️
It's okay if you misunderstand me cause I'll die for you ✔️
I'll bring you back to life ✔️
ill fated main lead who has evil bone ✔️
Annoying second female lead ✔️
Obsessive second male lead ✔️
Cutesy bubbly female lead ✔️
Evil and hypocrite immortals ✔️
Clown brainless villains ✔️
Amnesia ✔️
It feels kind of mixture of all xianxia dramas specially it is showing significant similarities with "Till the end of moon".
I felt like they tried to create Dejavu effect by repeating the plot like shifu-disciple or giving similar circumstances to SYS as MQG . It works for a certain period but after that it feels draggy and boring .
** Chemistry**🌿🍁
Mu Qing Ge and Su Yi Shui's chemistry is the best part for me in this story. I loved how Mu Qing Ge cared for him and he developed crush on her. I liked the scenes when Mu Qing Ge opened the door for him , him secretly kissing her forehead...
She approached the potential devil with kind intention and tired to save him from the beginning. Unlike other xianxias where ml or fl tries to save the ill-fated person only after they fallen in love with them.
As for SYS and XRR , it is like cold ml and bubbly fl dynamic . But the chemistry between XRR and SYS feels forced to me . we got more chemistry between MQG and SYS in 4 episodes than all episodes with XRR and SYS .
**Cultivation**🌿
I love how the drama added the real xianxia novel or Donghua cultivation here . And it gives us an idea about the power system. They cultivate , practice and improves .
**Villains**🍁
The villains are one dynamic with background story. I get it that they have a hidden villain but the visible villains are like **Team Rocket**.
They have their reasons to do the evil works .But still they're unrealistic.
Given their background it was possible to add some new theme and dynamic !
Take example of Mu Ran Wu, (personal opinion)
yeah I know she's evil , selfish and beyond redemption But if you think logically,
Mu Ranwu is not heavenly gifted. she was repeatedly compared with her talented sister. From her viewpoint her sister cared about others more than her so her spirit root got destroyed . She lived in MQG's shadow, others saw her as a burden and the person she loved fall for her sister !
Then she does a lot of evil things from killing her sister to stealing her talents and identity blah blah .....yes she is annoying and dumb clown and my problem is this same "annoying unrealistic villainess trope" . Who's sole purpose is to make the "Heroine" shine !
But it was possible to make her a realistic character, there was a potential to create a decent villain who can make us feel sympathize with her .
If not then at least give her brain !?
not to mention "Wei Jiu" who is a cheap version of demon villains . He's here to get beat up by SYS and add some comedy .
These villains are giving some nice comedy....but not much threat or weightage to the plot .
**Supporting characters**🍁
I have not found a supporting character whom I can root for. They're in the plot, but they don't have much value or important roles. Let's take example of some problematic supporting characters--
Su Yu : A character I don't know what to feel about. Sometimes he feels like a nice guy and other time obsessive 2nd lead . He's shown as a smart character but as he knew both MQG and MRW he should have been able to recognize her first. Guess what ! Even people who didn't know MQG personally could recognize her. As MRW *openly showing* her true nature . But he is just *suspecting* her for more than a year!
He's obsessed with *Mu Qing Ge* he doesn't care about her change in behavior or wrong doings as long as it's *her*.
SYS' mother: she doesn't has much screen time but I felt something is wrong with her character. She physically and Emotionally abused Su Yi Shui when he was a kid ! She literally tortured him , abandoned him in snow (where he could die) . And she did it cause of his future? So he will not live a poor life ?
How many times she checked on him after he went to the prince villa ? What about her having a happy life with her lover+ child and shut the door in his face after he already became a prince and came to visit her in his birthday?
I felt it wrong how they normalized *child abuse* here .....
I can't take the fact that she *sacrificed her life* for Su Yi shui and got redemption and respect !
**Finally**🌿🍁
I have kind of love-hate relationship with "xianxia" genre . I can't tolerate dramatic xianxia tropes but I love fantasy very much. The starting was strong but as the story continued it became draggy , repetitive and lost it's initial charm !
The action scenes, costumes, visuals, production and CGI are really good . I will not say the world building is best here, but it's not bad either. As we are given a chance to explore the Mortal realm , divine realm, conscious realm, royal family, immortal-demon sects etc. Also the ost is really beautiful.
So , if you love xianxia or Wuxia you can give it a chance .Overall LOTDT is okay to me .
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