3
This review may contain spoilers
No romance, but I still love it!
Normally, what makes me want to watch a Chinese Drama is it has to have romance, but as the title says, this is actually the first Chinese Drama, where I'm actually okay that there's no romance, maybe because I am not a fan of the FL (Chen Guo), I mean, as a character, she did annoy me a couple of times (especially towards the beginning), even when her character did developed at the end. Another thing is, I don't see the chemistry between Ye Xiu and Chen Guo, like she is a fan of him and then later becomes the boss that manages Xing Xin . To be honest, I feel more chemistry between Ye Xiu and Su Mu Cheng, because they've known each other since young, and they share a very close relationship, and I love their moments together, it is obviously they both care for each other, but too bad, because she's not the FL (actually wish she was tbh), I know they won't be together :( I am really glad that she joins Xing Xin at the end though!In terms of characterization, my favourite is definitely Ye Xiu, the actor Yang Yang did a really great job playing out the best in Ye Xiu, I mean, I haven't watch the Donghua or read the novel on my end, but I really love his characterization on my end, he's known as the "King", and I love he keeps a low profile, and doesn't glorify/show off his status as the "King".
I will be honest that at the beginning when I first started, it did take me a while to warm up to the story, but as I watched on, I really came to enjoy it, and I love each individual members that Ye Xiu recruits into his team, and where they have bonded, and I just love their team spirit!!
I also love the other teams players, and especially the captains in those teams who are strong rivals, and also friends with Ye Xiu, who will come out and defend him and speak up for him. And can I say that Yu Wen Zhou character, really reminds me of Tezuka (Prince of Tennis) LOL. Not a bad thing, since I love Tezuka LOL
The most hardest moment for me to watch was when Ye Xiu was defeated in one of the tournament match, and his weapon broke, since I know that is a big blow for him, not that he lost(yes, that hurts too), but that weapon meant a lot to him T__T and then when the team was disbanded, it really hurts me, but then they all have to go through that process, and I am glad in the end, they came back stronger than ever.
At first, I didn't like Wu Chen, but him joining the team, really warmed up to me, and I love seeing him in action! Especially the final match, totally had me ecstactic, and the final match really had me watching their match (without knowing the result) at the end of the seat, and when Xing Xin lose by 1 point, I was sad, but then, when they won (because Ye Xiu broke the record at the end), I was like everyone there who cheered for Xing Xin, was so happy and ecstactic!!!! I love how I am also emotionally invested in these games, and it had me at the end of my seat anticipating how the result will turn out!! I love that Xing Xin won!!! Since I was cheering for them!!
If I have to say something though, I just have to say that those fans, who actually criticize the players for leaving a team, really showed me how fickle they are!! It made me question, are they fans of the player themselves, or fan of the company (JiaShi) -_- So I love those loyal fans who can understand the player feelings and supported their decision at the end!
I say, before I watched the final episode that if Xing Xin win against Jiashi, I will give it 10/10, if it lose, then I will deduct 1 point from it, so in the end.... Congratulations to Xing Xin, and Congratulations to The King's Avatar (S1), you deserve 10/10!!!! I saw that Season 2 is listed? OMG, I will be excited if it comes out with the same casts, and follows from Season 1 ending, because I just can't get enough of Season 1, I didn't want it to end there, I wanted to watch more!!! SO if there's a Season 2, with the same cast, I am definitely watching this!!!
Rewatch Value: Yeah, definitely on my rewatch list!! Hope the team for Xing Xin stays, since I've come to love each member in that team!! <3
P.S: But got to say, that.... Whenever Chen Ye Hui comes onto the screen, I really wanted to punch him, because I don't like his character, he pisses me off, and I thought him in ALP was already worst LOL
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This review may contain spoilers
A love that transcends the three realms!
This is my first time watching Arthur Chen/Chen Feiyu on my side here.I mean, I have known about him since he was cast as Mo Ran in The Immortality which is a Danmei Adaptation to 2HA "The Husky and his White Cat Shizun, and if that drama would have aired(which will never be T.T), I would have gotten to see him as Mo Ran on my side here.
I am still sad that his character as "Mo Ran" was shelved and we never get to see him as Mo Ran with Luo Yunxi as Chu Wanning, but I am happy I have come to find out about this Drama (When Destiny Brings the Demon), because I honestly have no complaints about his acting and portrayal as Sima Jiao.
I love to see more Male Lead like Sima Jiao to be honest, where the Male Lead is powerful, domineering where everyone fears him, even the Female Lead, but then the Male Lead (Sima Jiao) is leaning more towards a "Grey side", where he is neither good or evil, he just will do what he see is his right path. His character kinda reminds me of Tantai Jin as well but only this time he loves a female lead who is devoted to him and is worthy of his love.
Just by judging his character as Sima Jiao, I know he will do his character Moran justice if that drama were to air but overall even if I know Immortality never gets to air I am glad in a parallel sense I get to see his character as Sima Jiao if that makes sense.
I love Sima Jiao from the beginning and I found him awesome/cool when he asserts his power (Spirit Fire), and scheme against those "Righteous" Celestial Cultivators where the 8 Palaces Leader played a role to sealing him for 500 years just because he was from the Sima Clan, and they all fear his Spirit Fire. When he took revenge on those who did that to him, I found him so cool in that scene.
I love Sima Jiao and Liao Tingyan love story and chemistry. I love how Sima Jiao have the ability to use the Truth Spell on those people and get the truth/answers that he asks for, that was so refreshing to see, instead of the typical miscommunication/misleading information. When he use them on Liao Tingyan and most of the time the answers she gave was out of what Sima Jiao expects, it's just so hilarious.
Sima Jiao is a character I came to really love on my side here, and I love his journey with Ting Yan (Female Lead) in this drama, where even when he falls in love with her, he never stopped his plans to take down Shi Qingyv (who is the mastermind to his suffering for all this time).
While the story involving their love journey have it's ups and downs, but I do see that this is a pairing that goes through life and death and is always united as one, even in their soul manor, they have formed a very intimate relationship between the main pairing.
Overall I really enjoy the drama, but if I have to be totally honest, I just wish the ending was done better. I was never one who support Open Ending on my side here, especially not after all they've been through. I wanted a more conclusive happy ending and I wish they would have gotten their happy ending in the Xianxia(Sima Jiao world). I don't like an ending that raises more questions for me because I wanted a more conclusive closure for my favourite couple.
In the end, it raises questions for me, because this whole time while it happened in Sima Jiao world, in Zou Yan world (where she was Liao Tingyan when she transmigrated, only lasted for 1 day at most, then what actually happened in the end, when we saw the him in the modern world, was that really Sima Jiao that transmigrated to Zou Yan(Female Lead world) in the end? Because he did said no matter what he will find her again. I really want to believe that is Sima Jiao at the end, and I wish they will have a continuation in the Modern world. I need another drama between Arthur Chen/Chen Feiyu and Wang Ying Lu in a Modern Romance setting!! I really enjoyed their chemistry, and I hope they will have another Modern Romance Drama together. One where Arthur Chen/Chen Feiyu carry the same hairstyle as the ending to this Drama (When Destiny Brings the Drama).
Overall I give this drama a 9.5/10. It lost 0.5 because I honestly wish the ending was a better/happier one in a conclusive way, oh well. I guess it does bring out that theme that his love for her can transcend the three realms if he can go to her world like that in the end, and I am inclined to believe that is really Sima Jiao at the end, because he did promise her that he will find her again, and the ending before she "dies" she said she live in a world that is beyond the three realms. Even, when time works differently in Zou Yan(Female Lead) world when compared to Sima Jiao world, but he managed to find a way in the end, so they got their happy ending in the Modern Setting.
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This review may contain spoilers
Promising start, but disappointing ending....
You know I was going to recommend this drama to my friend, and quite frankly, this story started off promising and good, I remember catching each episode as it comes out... But then..... somewhere down the road... I guess it was when after Bai Ying lost her memory... It started to go down the path that I don't enjoy...It really honestly felt like to me that at that time, while Su Mo really loves Bai Ying (whole-heartedly), but he has also given up on her at the same time... He even said it, it's okay if she can't remember, how he feel about her doesn't change...
And NGL I rewinded their kiss scene at the bridge a couple of times, because that was a touching moment to me, and then... in the final episode, while I somewhat predicted it's going to be a SAD ending... but I still want to give it a benefit of the doubt... All was looking good... until Su Mo's hair turned white, and I am like WTF is going on...
He exhausted his powers, SO, does he have to die?! Even the Dragon god and Shi She(is that her name), asked him what's his wish, and when Su Mo said that, I'm like "!!!" Why?!?!?! Why can't he think about how Bai Ying would feel at the end of all this?! Why can't he be selfish for once!!! And just wish that there's a chance for him to get out of this so he can live together happily with her?!
I cried, I literally did when he goes to Bai Ying one last time (even if it's in her dreams or something)... And when they hugged... Okay... I knew it's not going to be a happy ending... And then we got that ending!
Which I want to question, did Su Mo really come back?! Is that really him?! Or was this all an illusion by Bai Ying?! I WANT to take this that he came back, but at the same time, there's no logic behind how he could come back, and that made me so annoyed/frustrated and sad!!
SO... in the end, all I can say is that I feel like I wasted 43 episodes of my time to have it come to this! I feel like this drama really had a lot of potential, and quite honestly, I only stuck to the end for Su Mo and Bai Ying since they're my favourite couple.... Yun Huan ending was laughable in the end, his character didn't righted himself for me (he was pretty much meh to me...).
I don't like this kind of ending, because I hate that feeling of being so surreal, I don't even know if Su Mo is back or not. I can't find any positive feels after watching this.... I really wanted to recommend this drama to my friend, but I don't even know how to tell him about the ending... I don't want to spoil it either..
P.S. I am not fond of Yanxi being the emperor at the end, at the expense of Su Mo's sacrifice when he(Yanxi) really didn't contribute anything to earned that role as the Emperor, so I HATE this. I already knew he will be the emperor, since I got spoiled on this video, but I still don't like it...
I am disappointed with this. It could be better. And sadly, I do agree that LYF is emotionless failed to portray the expressions at times; so ...... I don't know why either. Why oh why!!! T_T
P.S.S. And... if I am going to be honest... I think if Su Mo is gone... It would have been a satisfactory note, if Bai Ying joins him so at least they can be together, not separated like this....
I love Su Mo, but at the same time, I don't like why he is so cut off from giving himself a chance to be happy in the end... I hate that it was said that he won't have a chance to reincarnate because that's already set that he and Bai Ying can't be together anymore, which is why I don't understand that ending, as much as I want a miracle to happen....
This ending was really, unnecessarily cruel after all Su Mo sacrificed!!!!!
P.S.S. And I thought Miss the Dragon was bad... But this one takes it to another level with that CRUEL ending!
Next time I will remind myself to NOT get into a human x non-human xianxia genre... by the way this piss me off even more because Yanxi and NaSheng get to have their happy ending... So why can't Su Mo? When he's literally the ONLY one (seriously) that puts in A LOT of sacrifices to have it end like this?! Yeah, I blame the writers and the script, and this is not even comparing it to the novel, I am not a novel fan (since I have not read the novel...)
Am I going to rewatch this? Maybe the beginning when everything was good... but not towards the end, because it went crazy that didn't make sense to me... Am I going to recommend this to my friend? Well, better to watch something worth the time... I wasted my time on this, sadly, even when I know it could really have been better, but the end sums up everything to me, so in summary this drama was a disappointment, looking at "characters (Su Mo and Bai Ying) deserves a happy ending, got an unjustifying ending while character who contribute nothing much (Yan Xi and Na Sheng) gets a happy ending... I am not saying it's bad for Yanxi and Nasheng happy ending, but in comparison, it is just plain cruel to Su Mo, because he was the one who sacrificed ALOT to have it end like this. I don't understand why Su Mo have to give up for a happy future with Bai Ying, when he could have done it differently... It all just have it end for the sake of it being a sad ending.... I hate this kind of story writing/ending!
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I love Zhang Binbin but this drama is not for me. The FL makes me cringe...
I came to love Zhang Binbin through Song of the Moon which this was the drama I just finished watching and I love his acting in that drama (Song of the Moon), so I thought I might give this drama "A romance of the little forest" a go because Zhang Binbin is in this one too.To be honest, I really tried to give this drama a chance. I stopped and get back into it and stopped again and got back into it, but it just didn't have that same magnetic pull that I felt when I watched Song of the Moon.
I mean I am into romance genres and an online friend recommended this drama to me saying it is similar to You are my Glory, while I do see the similarities but I cannot stand the Female Lead in this drama...
The Female lead Yu Mei Ren (played by Esther) is too much an off-putting for me.... She is so superficial and exaggerates that made me facepalm when she's on the screen... Like I really just want her to be herself and let him see the real her. The real and honest her...
The way how she acts "cute" in front of him is not cute to me but instead, that just makes it off putting...
Honestly, while a pairing chemistry is subjective from people to people on how they feel about the pairing, but for me, from the episodes I've seen I don't see the chemistry between them. It just felt awkward to me and I didn't like that she lied to her parents and said that Zhuang Yu(played by Zhang Binbin) is her boyfriend when they are not... and their parents is too annoying too with how they tried to pry into someone privacy even when it was just a guess that the mother thought Zhaung Yu is their daughter "boyfriend" when he is not yet....
Anyways I don't think I will continue it..I want to write a review about my honest opinions. Such a shame because I thought I might like this one also.... I keep putting it on hold so I know this drama isn't the one for me... Oh well..... Time to watch some other dramas that is worth my time.
Once again I love Zhang Binbin but Esther role in her character is really off putting for me so can't stick to it... It is to the point that made me cringe at her character (omg)
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