Lizzy

WOW! What an incredible show! The storytelling was amazing, as was the showcase of all of the different types of relationships that the story had to offer. The relationship between Feng Suige and his younger siblings was one of the (many) highlights of Fated Hearts, and it’s still fresh in my mind upon finishing the story just minutes ago. He cared deeply for his family, cried for his family, and was on the brink of burning the whole damn place down to rescue his sister. I LOVED loved the sibling relationships. I also adored the complicated, dark, edgy relationship Suige had with his father, the Emperor, and some of my favorite scenes were the emotionally charged moments with them. I was engrossed. I also LOVED the relationship between Suige and his dead mother. One of the sweetest scenes was when he introduced Yixiao to his mom in her ancestral hall. Suige cried, Yixiao emoted and I cried. What a speech!

Yet, this show had so many other types of relationships that I was equally invested it. Feng Suige’s brotherhood with his battalion had me tearing up at several points throughout the course of the story. His loyalty towards them, and them to him, was incredibly touching and poignant. Not all family is blood. Sometimes family are those whom you have chosen for yourself.

A lot of people here have spoken at length about the main couple’s romance and I echo all of the sentiments that they were an incredible POWERHOUSE of a team. From being hated enemies, to having mutual respect and then the love - their whole journey had me engaged from beginning to end. They had some of the best scenes, and have risen in rank to one of my favorite TV couples - up there with Xiao Qiao & Wei Shao from The Prisoner of Beauty and Sima Jiao and Tingyan from When Destiny Brings the Demon. While their romance didn’t have as much steam as WDBtD or as TPoB, they had epic fights scenes together fighting side by side. They saved each other often, communicated like adults, and remained devoted to each other to the end.

One of the other things I loved about this show was all of the parallel stories. From Suige and Yixiao having similar wounds around their heart, to the mirrored scenes of them bathing in the hot spring, to the amnesia tropes… brilliant. I also noticed parallels between Suige and XJS - with Suige recognizing that he was heading down the path of hatred and darkness until Yixiao pulled him back up and helped him see her love and the love of his brothers in the Feng Battalion. Contrast that to Prince XJS who also had a difficult life of trauma, who descended into madness and delusion, no matter the love he had from his friends and military brothers. The show also showcased the parallels between the royal families of these two countries and how the sibling relationships saved Feng’s family, but the sibling hatred caused the demise of XJS’s family in the end. There were so many parallels, I am excited to watch this again.

This show was also very heavy on the common Asian themes of children paying for the sins of their parents. There has been some criticism of “shallow” villains, but I didn’t see it that way. While it was hard to understand why some of the villains went to the lengths that they did for revenge, I also recognize that their reasonings were closely linked to that collectivist mindset. It didn’t bother me.

So that basically sums up my deeper thoughts.

I LOVED Suige’s character so so much. He was the perfect blend of a pissed off coldhearted killer to a slightly flustered man catching the feels for Yixiao. His fight scenes were so EPIC. The rage in his face, his FABULOUS costumes while kicking ass and looking like a blood-spattered killer model while doing so. I loved seeing the famed “Killer God of Susha” in action. Muah! 🤌🏻I paid so much attention to his outfits. He was a beautiful, beautiful man. And when the God of War got betrayed or hurt, Chen Zhe Yuan could ACT. The way he emoted through his face, cried, raged - I felt it all. He has been through so much shit and betrayal.

Yixiao was AWESOME!!! 👏🏻 My god when she had her bow and was dancing around enemies kicking ass, shooting arrows, saving her man, looking FABULOUS. Gah. I was INTO IT. Watching her and her now fighting was just 🤌🏻🤌🏻 I cheered so much watching her during the fight scenes. I also appreciated that they developed her trauma and gave her PTSD. She had amazing character development and the perfect blend of crying beautifully during sad moments, being compassionate, and then kicking ass at other times.

So in terms of cons 🤷🏼‍♀️ I dunno. Maybe it dragged a little for a few episodes later on. I don’t know how much I was into the whole plot at Jinxiu with the CRAZY royal family and Suige’s sister. Maybe I think that that whole side plot could have been different or developed better. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I think also the OST was too loud, and music was alwaaaaaays playing. I perhaps wouldn’t have minded as much, but when there were words in the ost AND dialogue happening at the same time, IQIYI’s subtitles encroached halfway up the screen which was incredibly annoying at times. Other than that, this show was perfect. The greatness of this one made the flaws easy for me to overlook. Highly recommend!!!