1
An okay watch, just didn't quite hit emotionally
I had pretty high expectations for this show because I’ve liked other works from this screenwriter, but I ended up kind of disappointed. It was just an ok watch, good enough to pass the time- but not something I really felt invested or interested in.
The FL, Xin Mei, is ok. She’s fairly strong and capable. Her best trait might be her ability to think for herself, which is a great and all... just unfortunately there isn’t that much else to her. I feel she shows the most personality in the first story arc, and after that she’s just a generic heroine. It also doesn’t help her character development that she’s unconscious half the time. Overall she’s just not that interesting, and I wasn’t particularly rooting for her or feeling for her.
The ML is better, with a great backstory, and I did feel emotionally connected to him at times. But his story is not executed that well either. I understood what he’s doing, but I would have felt much more emotionally invested if they did a better job conveying how badly he wants it and why. His goal actually touches upon a thoughtful philosophical question, and contrasts sharply with the Immortals and their own existential crisis. But the show doesn't push this point, instead treating it more like a hero’s quest.
The romance between the two doesn’t develop so much as jump around a few times before stabilizing. Although it is puffed up with plenty of dramatic manufactured moments (eg saving each other back and forth), I just didn’t really feel it. I understood it’s there, but I didn’t care that much.
I had a similar attitude towards the plethora of side characters and all their interlocking stories. There are too many characters, so inevitably nobody is developed enough for me to care about. I did like some of them- some had a little more depth- and I disliked others, but only mildly, and I’d forget about them after they moved out of the story again.
For the plot, I liked the first story arc, but after that it seems to drag on for awhile. I felt most of the show is a ceaseless parade of slightly upsetting events involving too many characters. But everything is also overly dramatic, from the played-up romance scenes, to the fights filled with big fluorishy movements and poses, to all the angsty moments and dramatically performed dialogue in between.
Along those same lines, this is apparently the kind of world where a character wanting something badly enough, or having enough emotion, can make miracles happen. I am too jaded to like this sort of fairy tale stuff anymore.
I liked the show better as it approached the end. There is a break in the angst, just a nice period of sweet and not-too-dramatic existence, as well as finally some clarity on the true nature of the conflict. Also, by this point, many of the characters finally accumulated enough development for me to care about them a little. And I was fairly satisfied with the final villain, who is interesting enough but still easy to hate, making it easy on my emotions. All of this wasn’t enough for me to fall in love with the show, but I did watch with interest for the last 10 episodes or so.
Thematically, this show has echoes of the thoughtfulness and philosophy that I loved about A Moment But Forever (its “sequel”). Ideas explored include using power to oppress vs help the people, questioning rhetoric, living a long life vs truly living a life, etc. In theory these could be done well, but this show somehow slightly misses the mark. The social themes, for example, aren’t subtle or thoughtfully presented, so they come across as preachy. And the giant existential crisis faced by the Immortal sects would feel more meaningful if it were cast in a more philosophical light. Overall with the themes, I felt it flirted with the idea of being deep and then didn’t quite land the hit, making it somehow even more disappointing.
Acting wise, I thought Allen Ren and Wang Herun both did ok, but it’s not the best I’ve seen from either. They both spend a lot of the show with furrowed brows and sour expressions. I also didn’t appreciate that wispy, breathy overtone the FL’s voice actress added to her voice. Many of the side actors I have seen before and like, but watching them enact some of the overly dramatic scenes made me cringe a little. It might be more about the scenes than the actors.
The fighting is overdramatic but decently performed and the CGI is pretty good. I like the costumes, especially the Bei Xiang outfits which look distinctly different. For the music, ...the OST sure has some very specific lyrics... that aside, some of the songs really grew on me, and there is one instrumental I like, but I didn’t really care for most of the BGM.
Overall, I think this show is watchable for some shallow entertainment, but doesn’t really stand out. I know I wrote a lot of negative points- it’s actually not that bad, I just think it missed some opportunities to be a lot better.
By the way, this show happens in the same universe as A Moment But Forever, which I personally really liked (also Love of Thousand Years, which I didn’t watch). There is a common mythology and one crossover character (confusingly played by a different actor), but the stories are fairly independent, so you don’t need to watch one for the other. There are a few things that I knew how they would turn out because I’d seen the other show, and a few references that would not have made sense otherwise. I do feel it made me appreciate the reality of A Moment But Forever better, especially where the human race is at, knowing all this infighting that happened just 20ish years before.
By the way #2, I rather like the gender portrayals, or rather lack thereof, in this show. There are strong, weak, smart, dumb, good, bad, characters of either gender, which I thought is pretty cool.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I consider this ending bittersweet.
There are a ton of sacrifices as we approach the end. I’d say at least half the characters end up dead. But, as shown in a nice two-episode denouement wrapup, those who are left learn to move on- which is true to the themes of the show (seeking immortality vs learning to be ok with the cycle of life, death, and renewal).
Both main characters survive, but the ML loses his memory. I love that this show acknowledges and addresses that without his memory, he’s basically a different person. The FL is still able to find him at the end, but we never find out how that works out.
A big chunk of the last episode is dedicated to the main characters of the follow-up shows, A Moment But Forever and Love of Thousand Years. I think these segments are nice for anyone who’s watched those shows, but probably a little confusing and not too meaningful for those who haven’t.
The FL, Xin Mei, is ok. She’s fairly strong and capable. Her best trait might be her ability to think for herself, which is a great and all... just unfortunately there isn’t that much else to her. I feel she shows the most personality in the first story arc, and after that she’s just a generic heroine. It also doesn’t help her character development that she’s unconscious half the time. Overall she’s just not that interesting, and I wasn’t particularly rooting for her or feeling for her.
The ML is better, with a great backstory, and I did feel emotionally connected to him at times. But his story is not executed that well either. I understood what he’s doing, but I would have felt much more emotionally invested if they did a better job conveying how badly he wants it and why. His goal actually touches upon a thoughtful philosophical question, and contrasts sharply with the Immortals and their own existential crisis. But the show doesn't push this point, instead treating it more like a hero’s quest.
The romance between the two doesn’t develop so much as jump around a few times before stabilizing. Although it is puffed up with plenty of dramatic manufactured moments (eg saving each other back and forth), I just didn’t really feel it. I understood it’s there, but I didn’t care that much.
I had a similar attitude towards the plethora of side characters and all their interlocking stories. There are too many characters, so inevitably nobody is developed enough for me to care about. I did like some of them- some had a little more depth- and I disliked others, but only mildly, and I’d forget about them after they moved out of the story again.
For the plot, I liked the first story arc, but after that it seems to drag on for awhile. I felt most of the show is a ceaseless parade of slightly upsetting events involving too many characters. But everything is also overly dramatic, from the played-up romance scenes, to the fights filled with big fluorishy movements and poses, to all the angsty moments and dramatically performed dialogue in between.
Along those same lines, this is apparently the kind of world where a character wanting something badly enough, or having enough emotion, can make miracles happen. I am too jaded to like this sort of fairy tale stuff anymore.
I liked the show better as it approached the end. There is a break in the angst, just a nice period of sweet and not-too-dramatic existence, as well as finally some clarity on the true nature of the conflict. Also, by this point, many of the characters finally accumulated enough development for me to care about them a little. And I was fairly satisfied with the final villain, who is interesting enough but still easy to hate, making it easy on my emotions. All of this wasn’t enough for me to fall in love with the show, but I did watch with interest for the last 10 episodes or so.
Thematically, this show has echoes of the thoughtfulness and philosophy that I loved about A Moment But Forever (its “sequel”). Ideas explored include using power to oppress vs help the people, questioning rhetoric, living a long life vs truly living a life, etc. In theory these could be done well, but this show somehow slightly misses the mark. The social themes, for example, aren’t subtle or thoughtfully presented, so they come across as preachy. And the giant existential crisis faced by the Immortal sects would feel more meaningful if it were cast in a more philosophical light. Overall with the themes, I felt it flirted with the idea of being deep and then didn’t quite land the hit, making it somehow even more disappointing.
Acting wise, I thought Allen Ren and Wang Herun both did ok, but it’s not the best I’ve seen from either. They both spend a lot of the show with furrowed brows and sour expressions. I also didn’t appreciate that wispy, breathy overtone the FL’s voice actress added to her voice. Many of the side actors I have seen before and like, but watching them enact some of the overly dramatic scenes made me cringe a little. It might be more about the scenes than the actors.
The fighting is overdramatic but decently performed and the CGI is pretty good. I like the costumes, especially the Bei Xiang outfits which look distinctly different. For the music, ...the OST sure has some very specific lyrics... that aside, some of the songs really grew on me, and there is one instrumental I like, but I didn’t really care for most of the BGM.
Overall, I think this show is watchable for some shallow entertainment, but doesn’t really stand out. I know I wrote a lot of negative points- it’s actually not that bad, I just think it missed some opportunities to be a lot better.
By the way, this show happens in the same universe as A Moment But Forever, which I personally really liked (also Love of Thousand Years, which I didn’t watch). There is a common mythology and one crossover character (confusingly played by a different actor), but the stories are fairly independent, so you don’t need to watch one for the other. There are a few things that I knew how they would turn out because I’d seen the other show, and a few references that would not have made sense otherwise. I do feel it made me appreciate the reality of A Moment But Forever better, especially where the human race is at, knowing all this infighting that happened just 20ish years before.
By the way #2, I rather like the gender portrayals, or rather lack thereof, in this show. There are strong, weak, smart, dumb, good, bad, characters of either gender, which I thought is pretty cool.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I consider this ending bittersweet.
There are a ton of sacrifices as we approach the end. I’d say at least half the characters end up dead. But, as shown in a nice two-episode denouement wrapup, those who are left learn to move on- which is true to the themes of the show (seeking immortality vs learning to be ok with the cycle of life, death, and renewal).
Both main characters survive, but the ML loses his memory. I love that this show acknowledges and addresses that without his memory, he’s basically a different person. The FL is still able to find him at the end, but we never find out how that works out.
A big chunk of the last episode is dedicated to the main characters of the follow-up shows, A Moment But Forever and Love of Thousand Years. I think these segments are nice for anyone who’s watched those shows, but probably a little confusing and not too meaningful for those who haven’t.
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