Aryael

Fast forwarded many scenes, but in summary, this drama is a huge disappointment. Chemistry between leads almost non-existent, story line boring and predictable and ending was very rushed.

This drama is surprisingly good. I did not like the ML at first because he initially came across as a shallow character but as I watch further, I start to get and like his unique character. He is a bag of contradictions:- arrogant but unsure how to tackle relationships, sometimes mature but most times childish, smart but sometimes can be slow especially when it comes to matters of the heart, has a devil-may-care attitude on the surface but in actual fact he's very thoughtful and insightful, honest and direct but have no problems telling lies when the situation warrants it. He may seemed like a helpless person because his manager constantly decided things for him, but when push comes to pull, he can pull his own weight and knows how best to deal with matters concerning his career, private life and public opinion. His weakness is he may sometimes go-ahead of himself and that pride of his may prevent him from explaining his thoughts and actions to others, making others misunderstand him.

The FL is no weakling or damsel in distress. She's a cautious lady (in mind and heart), street smart, wise, hardworking, may come across as too nice to everyone but she knows who's good and who's bad...she just didn't want to bother to make enemies out of them. She may sound like she likes money but only if she wants to draw a clear line with you - with the people she truly cares and trust, she could go into debt just to help you! Her weakness is her lack of experience dealing with public opinion concerning artists, her strong sense of heroine-ism who always wants to sacrifice for the people she cares for without considering if there's another better way to deal with the matter and her too-guarded heart perhaps due to the protective barrier she had erected from her difficult life experiences where she never invests her all into her relationships so as to leave a back door for herself so she could leave with minimal hurt.

Sometimes, it gets frustrating to see how 'protective' of her heart she was that she persistently refused to fully fall for the ML. In her own words to the ML even after their marriage and the ML's love confession, "You may like me a lot now, but you never know when your feelings might change one day." She constantly keeps a piece of her heart to herself. Because of her cautiousness and to some extent her low self-esteem, we see a lot of push and pull situation happening in this drama. We can definitely characterise this drama as the ML falling for the FL first, and boy did he fall hard and fast! Most times, you'll get to see the FL trying to remain calm and keeping the status quo while the ML literally did all sorts just to keep her by his side! He wanted her to fall desperately in love with him like how he did with her, but she remained one cool cucumber and at times, stubbornly insisting on keeping things the way they are, eg: her relationship with her childhood friend even though she knew her childhood friend secretly liked her and the ML is extremely jealous of their relationship, her commitment to her job even though the ML lost his job to protect her etc etc. So, if you like the sort of drama where the ML is the fool for love while the FL is only slightly affected, this is the drama for you. Girl power?! lol

P.s: Because of the desperateness of the ML to make the FL feel for him as much as he feels for her, you'll get plenty of possessive ML-initiated kiss scenes in this drama! Enjoy! :)

Romance is not the central piece of this drama. Don't expect much on the romance side of things.

There are 3 seasons to this drama - each season is split into 40+ eps. In total, this is a 100+ episodes' drama. The reason for the split is to help ease with getting the approval of the Chinese censorship board. As far as I know, the filming of this entire drama is completed since the end of 2018. So, we just need to wait for them to release the second and third seasons after the official end date of Season 1.

I think by Eps 33-34, most people can guess Uncle Wu's identity, especially after the previous two episodes away (can't remember exactly which episode this happened) when Fan Xian read the letter his mum left for him explaining about the cycle of existence (basically, the concept of multiverse within the same planet or existence or timeline where civilisations come and go). All the hints are there: he doesn't age, he has selective memory loss, he's unbeatable or difficult to destroy, he is blind-folded but not blind (that's because if you see his eyes, you'll know he's not human!), the way he talks or pronounces certain things as he tilts his head as if processing new information, his lack of emotion or inability to comprehend emotions....... I think you guys can piece all that together and know who or rather what uncle Wu is! At this stage, I love the little bits of sci-fi in the story. As we creep closer to the end of Season 1, I am already looking forward to Season 2!

p.s: please do not ask me for a link to watch later episodes as I watch raw with VIP access.

At this stage, between Joy of Life and Sword Dynasty, I prefer Joy of Life because of the perfect blend of story, action, mystery/investigative and humour. Fan Xian's (Joy of Life) character and his life principles resonate better with me and carries a "slice of life" type of favour while Ding Ning's (Sword Dynasty) character of a genius burdened with a strong sense of revenge is less relatable, though appropriate for the typical wuxia-type hero.

Sorry everyone. I watch raw with VIP access. Sometimes, I'll help with Eng subbing once I finish watching the drama, but this drama's Eng subbing is pretty fast; it's not like it's many episodes behind. All I can say at this stage is the drama's plot is unfolding nicely and you won't regret investing time into this drama.

Ep. 27, absolutely addicting! Can't wait for next week's episodes! My guess is we will get to see the idol actor (Xiao Zhan) everyone's been talking about since the beginning of this drama make his appearance next week. I think he plays the role of the inspector's son who got sent to Northern Qi as a spy and was betrayed into the hands of the enemy by the eldest princess in order to frame Fan Xian. He's the mysterious dude in the closed sedan at the beginning of this drama who ordered the guards to kill Fan Xian but was warned by Fan Xian's master not to leave the sedan (that's why we didn't get to see his face back then).

Sorry, I watch them raw with VIP access.

Agreed. He's one of the actors from China that I enjoy watching. Not the most handsome, but his acting is always spot on! He'd acted in many different genres of drama. A very versatile actor! I know many people are commenting how Xiao Zhan is in this drama and how his fans are waiting for his appearance in this drama, but seriously speaking, the reason why I started watching this drama is because Zhang Ruo Yun is the ML. I'd watched all of his drama and his acting never disappoints - hence I know this drama has a good chance of success. Now, we can only pray that the story line continues to be this addictive, and we'll probably see one of the best historical, investigative, political and romance chinese drama of 2019!

15 episodes in and I am liking this drama a lot! I love the investigative and witty comedy parts. The ML is a very intelligent, loyal, reasonable and lonely person:- attractive traits I find I like in ML characters. There's a little romance in it, but not too much - which again, is to my liking. I hope this drama will continue with this trajectory. Looks like I have something to look forward to three days of every week! Just wishing this airs every day!

Can't wait for Season 2!

Completed! As expected, the story ends with an opening for a new plot:- the birth of the new Demon King! Therefore there will be a Season 2 (I hope!). Hope to see more of Xu Kai as Wang Lu!

Yes, I agree, Chinese anime getting better. Better and more story line and plots - just like their series - running into 70-80 plus episodes and split into seasons; because they excel in telling stories with focus on character and settings details plus multiple story expansions.

Drama changed Hai Yun Fan's character and story to add the bromance factor into the drama. Nowadays, young audiences dig bromances and it's a good way for the director to promote a less popular actor by pairing him with a popular actor in a bromance relationship. Now, more and more people will start to be interested in the actor who is playing Hai Yun Fan.

Yes, ironically the Japanese had really bad luck with live-actions - probably because of their style of filming and acting that leans towards brevity and extreme exaggeration. The Taiwanese, Korean and Chinese, however, have had good successes with anime or manga live-actions. Yet, when it comes to manga and anime, the Japanese is at the top of the game.

I do not think that the style of comedy is similar to Stephen Chow's. Yes, it's slapstick but it is far from the very unique Hong Kong-styled slapstick plus dark and sexual satire of Stephen Chow. Stephen Chow's comedy is a brand in itself that no one can fully imitate to this day because it is so uniquely Hong Kong. It is best experienced in its native Cantonese language. Any sort of translation dilutes the dark humour and jibes that is understood by those of us who can understand local Hong Kong Cantonese and street slangs. On the contrary, the slapstick comedy in this drama is very much a Mainland style comedy. And the music cues for the comedy scenes are pretty standard music cue for any comedy scenes in any Mandarin speaking dramas.

Zhang Ruo Yun usually acts in pretty good dramas with interesting story line. This is in my Watch List now. Fingers crossed it'll turn out good.

Watch for action. Don't use your brains. It won't make sense. They tried to weave a complicated plot and tried to turn it into some blockbuster styled drama but failed miserably. From fighting against corporations to fighting against politicians and now fighting against a secret international organisation. And all this while NIS allowed a civilian in on their secrets, facilities and information and this civilian went on to tell other civilians about what NIS told him. In real life, such things don't exist and makes no sense. So, just watch for action. I don't mind the open ending, in fact, I think it's an art to start and end at the same scene. But the pacing of the story is off. The last two episodes were a rush when they had wasted 5-6 episodes dallying on typical KDrama romance and relationship development between the leads and the people around them. They gotta make up their minds - international blockbuster or typical KDrama development? They tried to mix both together and ended up with western-styled overly done steak served with kimchi and pasta sauce on sauerkraut and cheese. Palatable? Well, it's an acquired taste - a few will like it but most will probably frown at the odd combination and wonder just what the heck had they eaten??? p.s: I think they added Twinkies and M& Ms somewhere in there too....just to give it some sweetness!

Yes.