Beautiful setting and music, mildly frustrating plot
I’m not sure why this show is broken into Part 1 and Part 2, except to get around the 40 episode limit. It’s not a natural break in the story. I’m rating on the whole package of Part 1 + 2.
This show really tugged on my heartstrings. Beautiful scenery, beautiful music, beautiful people, all trying so hard- I wanted so much for everyone to find happiness, and I really cried for them and hoped very hard.
Which is great and all, except at a point it became a bit much. I was constantly worried or feeling bad for the characters. Too much self-sacrifice with bad results, and good intentions executed not-quite-right causing misery and heartbreak all around. I honestly felt really frustrated watching some of it. In particular I remember fast forwarding through about 10 episodes desperately looking for the moment when their misunderstandings would finally be resolved, and it kept not happening- by the time it did, it felt like the show was mostly over. Just too much frustrating heartache, though of course it does get redeemed later.
I think part of it is just the source material, as a big chunk of the novel does indeed have them torturing each other. At least the drama does a good job softening this relationship (eg giving them some happy moments together first, making him doubt her betrayal, having some friends there to express the frustration I shared, etc). This comes at the expense of some logic, such as one too many pearls, exchanged a bit too early.
Besides the main couple and their angst-filled saga, there’s an overall save-the-world arc that develops in the latter half. It’s slightly cliché and also not in the book, making it an interesting intentional choice. Dramas seem to really like to turn things into good-vs-evil.
Also given a bigger role in the drama are lots of good looking side characters with their own stories. I personally really liked Xue Sanyue and Li Shu, I was really rooting for them. The little butterfly was cute, but I didn’t quite like how her story evolved (the whole desperately seeking male attention arc she had). For Lin Haoqing, I thought his liking the FL was cliché and I sort of wish they stuck to the book on this one, but it’s still nice to see a more complex character.
These characters, and others, were fairly well developed. I thought the show did a good job with side characters. For better or worse, many of them end up paired up. But, many of their stories also made me cry. It was honestly a bit much… I spent too much of this show feeling sad.
Angsty story aside, this show is quite beautifully done. The scenery is magical, and I especially love the northern lands and the feelings they invoke. I have to give a big shoutout to the music. Of course music is subjective, but I absolutely loved the piano BGMs. I do think it was a bit overused, because the music would start before a scene got going and foreshadow what was coming, which was like a bunch of micro spoilers over and over. However, I still think the music was very evocative, and I might have stopped watching if this music didn’t keep pulling me back.
Styling for humans (costumes, hair, makeup) was well done. Everyone looked good, and it’s always fun to watch good looking people. I thought the acting was also quite good, from main and side characters alike. I heard Dilraba lost a lot of weight to portray the tortured form of Yunhe and I admire this dedication.
Overall, although it doesn’t feel right to rate down a show for not showing me artificially happy scenes just because I want them- sad shows that make you feel your emotions, aren’t necessarily a bad thing- I still can’t deny that I spent a lot of this show feeling worried, frustrated, and otherwise angsty, which is not enjoyable.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
It’s an overall happy ending. What I think they do well, is they do roughly tie things off and show what happens to many of the side characters. I could have used more, but it’s already better than a lot of Cdramas.
What they do less well, is how they tie off the main characters’ story. The last 5 minutes give you their happy resolution, though it makes no sense. You have to google and find some snippets of deleted script that explain what happened. Why would they cut such important scenes?
This show really tugged on my heartstrings. Beautiful scenery, beautiful music, beautiful people, all trying so hard- I wanted so much for everyone to find happiness, and I really cried for them and hoped very hard.
Which is great and all, except at a point it became a bit much. I was constantly worried or feeling bad for the characters. Too much self-sacrifice with bad results, and good intentions executed not-quite-right causing misery and heartbreak all around. I honestly felt really frustrated watching some of it. In particular I remember fast forwarding through about 10 episodes desperately looking for the moment when their misunderstandings would finally be resolved, and it kept not happening- by the time it did, it felt like the show was mostly over. Just too much frustrating heartache, though of course it does get redeemed later.
I think part of it is just the source material, as a big chunk of the novel does indeed have them torturing each other. At least the drama does a good job softening this relationship (eg giving them some happy moments together first, making him doubt her betrayal, having some friends there to express the frustration I shared, etc). This comes at the expense of some logic, such as one too many pearls, exchanged a bit too early.
Besides the main couple and their angst-filled saga, there’s an overall save-the-world arc that develops in the latter half. It’s slightly cliché and also not in the book, making it an interesting intentional choice. Dramas seem to really like to turn things into good-vs-evil.
Also given a bigger role in the drama are lots of good looking side characters with their own stories. I personally really liked Xue Sanyue and Li Shu, I was really rooting for them. The little butterfly was cute, but I didn’t quite like how her story evolved (the whole desperately seeking male attention arc she had). For Lin Haoqing, I thought his liking the FL was cliché and I sort of wish they stuck to the book on this one, but it’s still nice to see a more complex character.
These characters, and others, were fairly well developed. I thought the show did a good job with side characters. For better or worse, many of them end up paired up. But, many of their stories also made me cry. It was honestly a bit much… I spent too much of this show feeling sad.
Angsty story aside, this show is quite beautifully done. The scenery is magical, and I especially love the northern lands and the feelings they invoke. I have to give a big shoutout to the music. Of course music is subjective, but I absolutely loved the piano BGMs. I do think it was a bit overused, because the music would start before a scene got going and foreshadow what was coming, which was like a bunch of micro spoilers over and over. However, I still think the music was very evocative, and I might have stopped watching if this music didn’t keep pulling me back.
Styling for humans (costumes, hair, makeup) was well done. Everyone looked good, and it’s always fun to watch good looking people. I thought the acting was also quite good, from main and side characters alike. I heard Dilraba lost a lot of weight to portray the tortured form of Yunhe and I admire this dedication.
Overall, although it doesn’t feel right to rate down a show for not showing me artificially happy scenes just because I want them- sad shows that make you feel your emotions, aren’t necessarily a bad thing- I still can’t deny that I spent a lot of this show feeling worried, frustrated, and otherwise angsty, which is not enjoyable.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
It’s an overall happy ending. What I think they do well, is they do roughly tie things off and show what happens to many of the side characters. I could have used more, but it’s already better than a lot of Cdramas.
What they do less well, is how they tie off the main characters’ story. The last 5 minutes give you their happy resolution, though it makes no sense. You have to google and find some snippets of deleted script that explain what happened. Why would they cut such important scenes?
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