An exceptional and rare gem of cdramaland
This season was great. The character development, the story progression, the revelations, the tying up with S1 was impeccable. This season was many shades darker than the first season and as per some novel spoilers it is going to be the darkest in S3.One thing to keep in mind before watching this season is that this season focuses more on power struggle, scheming, politics, corruption and unfairness in the world. Therefore, it is more dialogue heavy than action heavy. If people sitting and conversing in a room while sipping tea is not what interests you then I suggest you watch something else. Many people went in thinking this was going to be an action filled drama but were disappointed because that is not what it is. It still has its action moments but they are not the center of the story. The story is mysterious, suspenseful and exciting because the dialogue is intelligent and the schemes/plans that characters come up with are brilliant.
Also, there is comedy and many silly, goofy moments which I really appreciate because the overall tone of this season, as mentioned before, is quite ominous and foreboding.
I enjoyed this season tremendously. Definitely Top 3 drama for me from cdramaland. After 2 brilliant seasons, I trust this drama's team. They know what they're doing and it is visible in the drama that all the people involved care for the project.
If you are hesitating whether to watch this or not, please just go watch. Do not pay heed to criticism or even praise from fans like me. If you have even the slightest interest in JOL, then give it a try.
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Cultivation, Revenge and Sang Sang
This was such a great drama watching experience. Ning Que and Sang Sang are one of my favourite OTPs now. My stingy, poor, ride or die babies. They were always 'the one' for each other even when they didn't know they loved each other romantically. Found family trope went hard in this drama and that's part of the reason why I love it so much. NQ and SS came to the capital with barely anything; just their big umbrella, knives to cut people up with and a hunger for revenge. And by the end, they both had other people who cared for them, protected them, took their hand to teach them how to make it into the Cultivation world, stood by their side no matter what and became their support. It touched my heart how the Tang Academy seniors helped NQ prepare for his big fight with Xia Hou, how First Senior Brother was panicking and thinking how to protect NQ in the final fight and how they trusted NQ to beat Xia Hou against all odds. Yan Se, Fu Zi, General Ma and the Grand Priest of Light all very different characters with complexities but each one a great teacher/guardian.Apart from the found family, I loved Ning Que's journey from being the weakest cultivator in the room to being Ke Haoran's successor and even by the end, he still has a long way to reach the top but for that I have to read the novel because Season 2 is, well... not good. Ning Que's journey to climb up the ladder in the cultivation world was filled with him begging powerful cultivators to teach him, only to be rejected again and again, him not yielding and striving again and again, finally becoming Fu Zi's disciple all while working to bring justice to his murdered family. Everything he achieved was so earned.
My favourite characters in no particular order would be the Tang Academy seniors (they are all so wholesome, it's hard to not love them), Chao Xiaoshu (he didn't appear for much time considering how it's a 60 episodes drama but he stole the show whenever he was on screen. what a man.), the teachers who taught NQ and SS, Tang Xiaotang (she's so full of fire and energy and dreams), and of course the OTP.
I wouldn't say it's a perfect drama but it has so much good about it that I could care less for the flaws. Highly recommend to anyone who hasn't watched it.
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