This review may contain spoilers
I would give up my golden core to watch this for the first time again
Where to even begin? This is the first ever drama that I have watched that I consider to be completely perfect. Everything, from the acting, to the CGI, to the costumes, to the BGM, to the plot is so perfect.
Story:
This story takes many twists and turns but somehow manages to feel so coherent and bring back central focus effortlessly. This is definitely a character-focused drama, which is amazing as all of the characters are so compelling and beautiful written and acted. A few episodes at the beginning are dedicated to a flashback, which for some reason I found really funny. We were just inside of Su Yishui's memories for three years. The only parts that I would say were weak were Wei Jiu and Tu Jiuyuan's storyline, although that had its own charm, and the whole ending of the plot with Prince Ping, because it ended up just going to nowhere and was kind of confusing. I understand why it wasn't explained as there was no reason for Su Yishui to info-dump during his flashback, but a little more exposition would've made the situation a lot clearer. This drama took me on the ride of a lifetime, and I'll never forget it.
Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran:
I honestly don't know whether to categorise them as two different characters, or the same character. From the moment I saw her I loved her, to be completely honest. Mu Qingge has such a fun, playful yet straightforward charm that is just so attractive, while Xue Ranran's bright, lovely energy brightens up the screen. It is a bit of a pity that we didn't see more of the actual Mu Qingge, as she only got all of her memories back in the last few episodes, but the amalgamation of their two characters was also so compelling, and excellently handled, in my opinion. I've seen some complaints that Mu Qingge basically died and never came back, which is of course valid, but I don't share the same opinion as 1. I believe she did come back after she regained all of her memories and 2. It wouldn't be a fun or engaging story if there were no consequences to events. I think the direction that they went with her character is the most reasonable, as technically she never should have been revived according to Heaven's will. Her just coming back exactly as she was before would've made Heaven's will something to be taken much less seriously than it actually should've been in the story. Another complaint that I've seen is that Xue Ranran is a boring character, and I just can't accept this. Xue Ranran is a little bundle of joy and nobody is allowed to hurt her. And, she's an extremely relatable person because yes, I would also be thinking about my master that much if he were Su Yishui. If there is one thing that I dislike about both of their characters, it is their tolerance of Su Yu. However, I can ultimately see where their feelings come from, as he did treat them well for decades. I just hate him too much...
Su Yishui:
My favourite character hands down. It used to be Mu Qingge at the start of the story, but Su Yishui quickly stole the show for me. He is the standard for every single male lead character and I stand by that. He is a perfect character, but not in the sense that he is a perfect person. He's made plenty of mistakes and bad decisions, and yet I can't bring myself to hate him for any of them, exactly like Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran. He is a perfect blend of cold, straightfoward, brutal and no-nonsense towards others, and soft, sweet, playful and loving when it comes to the people he cares about. I genuinely have nothing else to say about him, he's just so perfect to me! Although can I just say that he really had me fooled when he was pretending to be the Mortal-Demon Lord.
Su Yu:
Possibly one of my most hated characters ever. He's just genuinely so insufferable, is willing to do whatever it takes to gain power and get what he desires at the cost of everyone else, and then turns around in the last second and gets to die an honourable death. I don't believe it. His passive-aggression and condescension is genuinely so infuriating and I was cheering for Su Yishui every time he tried to kill him, and every time he was suffering the effects of the poison. The scene where he got kicked out of Su Yishui's body and his spirit was being brought back into his own body, I was just saying, "Yes! No! Yes! No! Yes! No!!" the whole time. The fact that he threatened her into marrying him is absolutely despicable and he doesn't deserve anybody's sympathy, respect or affection. He doesn't deserve any of them, Mu Qingge, Xue Ranran, Mu Ranwu or Zhou Feihua. I think that he is at the center of one of the only problems with this drama, which is his constant infantilisation. The number of times Xue Ranran, Mu Qingge and Zhou Feihua said that they wanted to prevent him from making mistakes really pissed me off. He knew exactly what he was doing, including all the unspeakable consequences, so therefore it wasn't a mistake. I understand that there were decades of good feelings between him and those three, but it gets to a certain point. Especially after he invaded Su Yishui's body, I was shocked that Xue Ranran/Mu Qingge had any concern for him left. Genuinely about to punch a hole through the screen every time he spoke, especially when he had the audacity to imply that Su Yishui is interrupting his conversation IN HIS OWN HOME.
Mu Ranwu:
Just an annoying character overall. Feel infinitely worse for her than for Su Yu any day of the week, but she's still not good by any means. Even if you hate your sister that much, doing what she did is unforgivable. I believe that even if she was constantly compared to her her whole life, a genuinely good person wouldn't have blamed Mu Qingge for being talented, or for the choice she made to save the lives of innocent people. The only thing I respect about her is how fast she switched up on Su Yu. However, her switch up on Wang Suizhi was completely out of left field and felt so unnatural to me. Maybe I accidentally skipped a few lines in her scenes out of annoyance, but I didn't see any warmth from her side until the very last moment. Pretty in-character, though. Losing her sanity is what she deserved in the end. Living neither a happy or horrible life.
Other characters:
Let's start with positive ones and end with negative ones. Bai Baishan, Gao Cang and Xi'er were so funny and perfect as the three comic relief characters. Gao Cang was kind of weak but Bai Baishan completely subverted my expectations, he showed the most growth out of all of the three and was quite a pleasure throughout. Xi'er was just super cute, I adored her dynamic with Ranran and she was even able to save the chemistry between her and Gao Cang. Yu Tong, like Bai Baishan, subverted my expectations. Her unconditional support of the leads was heartwarming and refreshing. Zeng Yi's nickname for Su Yishui was super cute and their dynamic together was super entertaining. something that I appreciate is that his "protectiveness" of Xue Ranran was not at all dragged out, again subverting my expectations. Wei Jiu was an irrelevant character to me, the only thing I liked was his dynamic with Su Yishui and Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran. I could not bring myself to be compelled by Tu Jiuyuan, she did all of that for Wei Jiu? (strong doubt) The weakest major character (that I'm not forgetting about) might be Zhou Feihua. I wasn't paying attention when she was first introduced, and I continued to not really pay attention throughout all of her scenes. Her childhood backstory with Su Yu came of nowhere for me. They could've done some more with her character, but then again she's not really that important. Her insisting that Xue Ranran end her relationship with Su Yishui, and constantly going back to Su Yu really irritated me, though.
Overall, one thing that I appreciated in this drama, that maybe besides the Mortal-Demon Lord, nobody was evil just for the sake of being evil. This drama really cares about and cherishes its characters.
Rewatching:
I'm writing this review immediately after finishing the drama, but I am already excited to rewatch. It's the type of drama that's super nostalgic for me because the story came so far from where it started and so it's going to be such a blast to rewatch and rewatch and rewatch and rewatch... Will probably skip the scenes with just Su Yu, Mu Ranwu, and Dun Tian, though.
Romance:
The chemistry is immaculate, the writing is immaculate, I love everything about Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran and Su Yishui as a couple. I wish there was some more affectionate moments between them after they both regained all of their memories, though. Mu Qingge is stronger than me for sure. Something that I've seen about them and that I definitely agree with is that their dynamic and relationship throughout the story is very equal. They both sacrifice a lot for each other, both lose their memories, and even switch the master-disciple relationship. I can't possibly put my thoughts into coherent sentences, I just adore them so much!
Overall, the first and maybe the last 10 star rating I have ever given to a drama. Xian Tai You Shu you absolute masterpiece. I love art made by truly passionate people, and this drama screams passion, love and care to me. And by the way, what was in the air when Deng Wei and Xiang Hanzhi were filming? They look breathtaking.
Story:
This story takes many twists and turns but somehow manages to feel so coherent and bring back central focus effortlessly. This is definitely a character-focused drama, which is amazing as all of the characters are so compelling and beautiful written and acted. A few episodes at the beginning are dedicated to a flashback, which for some reason I found really funny. We were just inside of Su Yishui's memories for three years. The only parts that I would say were weak were Wei Jiu and Tu Jiuyuan's storyline, although that had its own charm, and the whole ending of the plot with Prince Ping, because it ended up just going to nowhere and was kind of confusing. I understand why it wasn't explained as there was no reason for Su Yishui to info-dump during his flashback, but a little more exposition would've made the situation a lot clearer. This drama took me on the ride of a lifetime, and I'll never forget it.
Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran:
I honestly don't know whether to categorise them as two different characters, or the same character. From the moment I saw her I loved her, to be completely honest. Mu Qingge has such a fun, playful yet straightforward charm that is just so attractive, while Xue Ranran's bright, lovely energy brightens up the screen. It is a bit of a pity that we didn't see more of the actual Mu Qingge, as she only got all of her memories back in the last few episodes, but the amalgamation of their two characters was also so compelling, and excellently handled, in my opinion. I've seen some complaints that Mu Qingge basically died and never came back, which is of course valid, but I don't share the same opinion as 1. I believe she did come back after she regained all of her memories and 2. It wouldn't be a fun or engaging story if there were no consequences to events. I think the direction that they went with her character is the most reasonable, as technically she never should have been revived according to Heaven's will. Her just coming back exactly as she was before would've made Heaven's will something to be taken much less seriously than it actually should've been in the story. Another complaint that I've seen is that Xue Ranran is a boring character, and I just can't accept this. Xue Ranran is a little bundle of joy and nobody is allowed to hurt her. And, she's an extremely relatable person because yes, I would also be thinking about my master that much if he were Su Yishui. If there is one thing that I dislike about both of their characters, it is their tolerance of Su Yu. However, I can ultimately see where their feelings come from, as he did treat them well for decades. I just hate him too much...
Su Yishui:
My favourite character hands down. It used to be Mu Qingge at the start of the story, but Su Yishui quickly stole the show for me. He is the standard for every single male lead character and I stand by that. He is a perfect character, but not in the sense that he is a perfect person. He's made plenty of mistakes and bad decisions, and yet I can't bring myself to hate him for any of them, exactly like Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran. He is a perfect blend of cold, straightfoward, brutal and no-nonsense towards others, and soft, sweet, playful and loving when it comes to the people he cares about. I genuinely have nothing else to say about him, he's just so perfect to me! Although can I just say that he really had me fooled when he was pretending to be the Mortal-Demon Lord.
Su Yu:
Possibly one of my most hated characters ever. He's just genuinely so insufferable, is willing to do whatever it takes to gain power and get what he desires at the cost of everyone else, and then turns around in the last second and gets to die an honourable death. I don't believe it. His passive-aggression and condescension is genuinely so infuriating and I was cheering for Su Yishui every time he tried to kill him, and every time he was suffering the effects of the poison. The scene where he got kicked out of Su Yishui's body and his spirit was being brought back into his own body, I was just saying, "Yes! No! Yes! No! Yes! No!!" the whole time. The fact that he threatened her into marrying him is absolutely despicable and he doesn't deserve anybody's sympathy, respect or affection. He doesn't deserve any of them, Mu Qingge, Xue Ranran, Mu Ranwu or Zhou Feihua. I think that he is at the center of one of the only problems with this drama, which is his constant infantilisation. The number of times Xue Ranran, Mu Qingge and Zhou Feihua said that they wanted to prevent him from making mistakes really pissed me off. He knew exactly what he was doing, including all the unspeakable consequences, so therefore it wasn't a mistake. I understand that there were decades of good feelings between him and those three, but it gets to a certain point. Especially after he invaded Su Yishui's body, I was shocked that Xue Ranran/Mu Qingge had any concern for him left. Genuinely about to punch a hole through the screen every time he spoke, especially when he had the audacity to imply that Su Yishui is interrupting his conversation IN HIS OWN HOME.
Mu Ranwu:
Just an annoying character overall. Feel infinitely worse for her than for Su Yu any day of the week, but she's still not good by any means. Even if you hate your sister that much, doing what she did is unforgivable. I believe that even if she was constantly compared to her her whole life, a genuinely good person wouldn't have blamed Mu Qingge for being talented, or for the choice she made to save the lives of innocent people. The only thing I respect about her is how fast she switched up on Su Yu. However, her switch up on Wang Suizhi was completely out of left field and felt so unnatural to me. Maybe I accidentally skipped a few lines in her scenes out of annoyance, but I didn't see any warmth from her side until the very last moment. Pretty in-character, though. Losing her sanity is what she deserved in the end. Living neither a happy or horrible life.
Other characters:
Let's start with positive ones and end with negative ones. Bai Baishan, Gao Cang and Xi'er were so funny and perfect as the three comic relief characters. Gao Cang was kind of weak but Bai Baishan completely subverted my expectations, he showed the most growth out of all of the three and was quite a pleasure throughout. Xi'er was just super cute, I adored her dynamic with Ranran and she was even able to save the chemistry between her and Gao Cang. Yu Tong, like Bai Baishan, subverted my expectations. Her unconditional support of the leads was heartwarming and refreshing. Zeng Yi's nickname for Su Yishui was super cute and their dynamic together was super entertaining. something that I appreciate is that his "protectiveness" of Xue Ranran was not at all dragged out, again subverting my expectations. Wei Jiu was an irrelevant character to me, the only thing I liked was his dynamic with Su Yishui and Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran. I could not bring myself to be compelled by Tu Jiuyuan, she did all of that for Wei Jiu? (strong doubt) The weakest major character (that I'm not forgetting about) might be Zhou Feihua. I wasn't paying attention when she was first introduced, and I continued to not really pay attention throughout all of her scenes. Her childhood backstory with Su Yu came of nowhere for me. They could've done some more with her character, but then again she's not really that important. Her insisting that Xue Ranran end her relationship with Su Yishui, and constantly going back to Su Yu really irritated me, though.
Overall, one thing that I appreciated in this drama, that maybe besides the Mortal-Demon Lord, nobody was evil just for the sake of being evil. This drama really cares about and cherishes its characters.
Rewatching:
I'm writing this review immediately after finishing the drama, but I am already excited to rewatch. It's the type of drama that's super nostalgic for me because the story came so far from where it started and so it's going to be such a blast to rewatch and rewatch and rewatch and rewatch... Will probably skip the scenes with just Su Yu, Mu Ranwu, and Dun Tian, though.
Romance:
The chemistry is immaculate, the writing is immaculate, I love everything about Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran and Su Yishui as a couple. I wish there was some more affectionate moments between them after they both regained all of their memories, though. Mu Qingge is stronger than me for sure. Something that I've seen about them and that I definitely agree with is that their dynamic and relationship throughout the story is very equal. They both sacrifice a lot for each other, both lose their memories, and even switch the master-disciple relationship. I can't possibly put my thoughts into coherent sentences, I just adore them so much!
Overall, the first and maybe the last 10 star rating I have ever given to a drama. Xian Tai You Shu you absolute masterpiece. I love art made by truly passionate people, and this drama screams passion, love and care to me. And by the way, what was in the air when Deng Wei and Xiang Hanzhi were filming? They look breathtaking.
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