Likeable characters and a fun watch
BFTB remains one of my favorite Cdramas. This is a fun watch with a great story, likeable characters, and great humor. Humor is a little subjective but this one jibed with me- I laughed out loud many times. The show is also pretty straightforward in who to root for and who not to, with a nice anti-racist underlying message and only a few characters to feel ambiguous about. This makes it easier on my emotions. (There is still heartache, but only just enough).
Yanhui, the female lead, remains one of my favorite characters in a drama. Although she’s not particularly skilled or strong, she is self-aware and down-to-earth. No BS; she sees situations for what they are and calls it out. She is cute, funny, and not a racist. She’s also great in a lot more subtle ways… I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. Zhou Ye plays this cheerful character quite well.
The male lead, Tianyao, is a little stiff, but also fairly likeable and oh-so-good looking… great styling for Neo. I thought the development of his relationship with the FL was exceptionally good for about 15 episodes. They are both so sweet and have a mutual respect, I loved watching their relationship grow.
Then the Dragon Valley story arc happened. I found both of their behaviors a bit annoying during the arc, but overshadowed in annoyingness by what happens next. Less than halfway through the drama, a nonsensical event occurs to stir up trouble. It made no sense, even after it was explained. The development after this fallout was fine, just the plot point felt so forced that it took away from my enjoyment of watching them recover. For my own sanity I ended up just seeing it as a device to advance the plot (something has to happen with this outcome) rather than looking too carefully at what actually happened.
The second male lead, Bai Xiaosheng (aka dimples guy), was a drama addition who was not in the book. I personally thought he was hilarious. Loved his style, which I think also matches Riley’s personality. Unfortunately after the nonsense plot point mentioned above, he becomes less likeable. I feel he got used for plot development; he’s forced into a silly love triangle that doesn’t match his personality, and he never stood a chance. Even accepting this, his trajectory afterwards is a missed opportunity… they could easily have done a lot more to develop his character in the latter half of the show. Instead, he gets sidelined. Poor guy.
There were also several likeable side characters in their merry band of friends, many broken up neatly into side couples. I enjoyed seeing them on screen, but they weren’t as captivating to me as the main characters.
The villains are a mixed bag. Suying might have been interesting but ends up being a bit too obsessive and one-dimensional. She spoke so slowly and mostly said predictable things, I wanted to fast forward through all her dramatic speeches. The story of the twins is sad. Unfortunately the main villain is somewhat one-dimensional and not very interesting, also shows up midway out of nowhere. I do wish he were more nuanced and less cliché, but ultimately I enjoyed the protagonists’ story enough to overlook this lameness.
I thought the sets were pretty and the costumes looked good- the colors of the clothing often reflect the character. I also liked the music, both BGM and songs. I will point out, though, that the CGI is kind of bad. It makes the entire thing feel lower budget. This didn’t matter as much for me because I’m here for the story, but I did have to laugh a few times at how bad it was.
There was some sloppiness in filming, like things moving around between when the camera cuts away and back. And of course, regular inconsistencies and plot holes, both big and small. This was the first xianxia I watched so I don’t know if I’d still be so horrified now that I’m more used to a bit of nonsense.
Ultimately, despite some flaws, this is still one of my favorite shows and the only one so far that I have fully rewatched. I like the lighthearted feel and lovable characters. It does get darker towards the end, as many shows do, but it still has some humor even in the last 10 episodes.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is happy, but also a typical rushed and unsatisfying Cdrama ending. It’s probably one of the worse ones I’ve seen, because random things happen out of nowhere. Couldn’t they have played fewer flashbacks near the end and used that valuable airtime to explain some things?
The resolution of the final conflict is very confusing. Explosions, sparkles, and dramatic-looking scenes are great and all, but what I really care about is what’s going on. My bafflement changed to vague horror as I started to realize the net outcome, which was looking quite sad… then in the last minute or so, everything turns around and an unexplained happy ending arrives. Fin.
They had to deviate from the novel because censorship bans reincarnation, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse. I was really attached to the characters by the end of this drama and wish we had gotten more closure.
Sometimes I read the novel or just its epilogues to get closure, but in this case the novel seemed quite different- my beloved characters were a bit less lovable, and the ending premise was also different- so I didn’t bother. Random fan theories on reddit helped me come up with a conclusion of what happened.
By the way, Yanhui’s transformation into a dark magic user in the last 10 episodes wasn’t in the book, but I think it worked well with the plot and story development of the drama. Still, I thought it came a bit out of nowhere and her change in personality was a bit jarring. It probably could have been pulled off better.
Yanhui, the female lead, remains one of my favorite characters in a drama. Although she’s not particularly skilled or strong, she is self-aware and down-to-earth. No BS; she sees situations for what they are and calls it out. She is cute, funny, and not a racist. She’s also great in a lot more subtle ways… I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. Zhou Ye plays this cheerful character quite well.
The male lead, Tianyao, is a little stiff, but also fairly likeable and oh-so-good looking… great styling for Neo. I thought the development of his relationship with the FL was exceptionally good for about 15 episodes. They are both so sweet and have a mutual respect, I loved watching their relationship grow.
Then the Dragon Valley story arc happened. I found both of their behaviors a bit annoying during the arc, but overshadowed in annoyingness by what happens next. Less than halfway through the drama, a nonsensical event occurs to stir up trouble. It made no sense, even after it was explained. The development after this fallout was fine, just the plot point felt so forced that it took away from my enjoyment of watching them recover. For my own sanity I ended up just seeing it as a device to advance the plot (something has to happen with this outcome) rather than looking too carefully at what actually happened.
The second male lead, Bai Xiaosheng (aka dimples guy), was a drama addition who was not in the book. I personally thought he was hilarious. Loved his style, which I think also matches Riley’s personality. Unfortunately after the nonsense plot point mentioned above, he becomes less likeable. I feel he got used for plot development; he’s forced into a silly love triangle that doesn’t match his personality, and he never stood a chance. Even accepting this, his trajectory afterwards is a missed opportunity… they could easily have done a lot more to develop his character in the latter half of the show. Instead, he gets sidelined. Poor guy.
There were also several likeable side characters in their merry band of friends, many broken up neatly into side couples. I enjoyed seeing them on screen, but they weren’t as captivating to me as the main characters.
The villains are a mixed bag. Suying might have been interesting but ends up being a bit too obsessive and one-dimensional. She spoke so slowly and mostly said predictable things, I wanted to fast forward through all her dramatic speeches. The story of the twins is sad. Unfortunately the main villain is somewhat one-dimensional and not very interesting, also shows up midway out of nowhere. I do wish he were more nuanced and less cliché, but ultimately I enjoyed the protagonists’ story enough to overlook this lameness.
I thought the sets were pretty and the costumes looked good- the colors of the clothing often reflect the character. I also liked the music, both BGM and songs. I will point out, though, that the CGI is kind of bad. It makes the entire thing feel lower budget. This didn’t matter as much for me because I’m here for the story, but I did have to laugh a few times at how bad it was.
There was some sloppiness in filming, like things moving around between when the camera cuts away and back. And of course, regular inconsistencies and plot holes, both big and small. This was the first xianxia I watched so I don’t know if I’d still be so horrified now that I’m more used to a bit of nonsense.
Ultimately, despite some flaws, this is still one of my favorite shows and the only one so far that I have fully rewatched. I like the lighthearted feel and lovable characters. It does get darker towards the end, as many shows do, but it still has some humor even in the last 10 episodes.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is happy, but also a typical rushed and unsatisfying Cdrama ending. It’s probably one of the worse ones I’ve seen, because random things happen out of nowhere. Couldn’t they have played fewer flashbacks near the end and used that valuable airtime to explain some things?
The resolution of the final conflict is very confusing. Explosions, sparkles, and dramatic-looking scenes are great and all, but what I really care about is what’s going on. My bafflement changed to vague horror as I started to realize the net outcome, which was looking quite sad… then in the last minute or so, everything turns around and an unexplained happy ending arrives. Fin.
They had to deviate from the novel because censorship bans reincarnation, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse. I was really attached to the characters by the end of this drama and wish we had gotten more closure.
Sometimes I read the novel or just its epilogues to get closure, but in this case the novel seemed quite different- my beloved characters were a bit less lovable, and the ending premise was also different- so I didn’t bother. Random fan theories on reddit helped me come up with a conclusion of what happened.
By the way, Yanhui’s transformation into a dark magic user in the last 10 episodes wasn’t in the book, but I think it worked well with the plot and story development of the drama. Still, I thought it came a bit out of nowhere and her change in personality was a bit jarring. It probably could have been pulled off better.
Was this review helpful to you?
