Eleison

Thank you for sharing! Who is the ancient demon god again? I got to the dream sequence and my brain is spinning. I feel like I'm watching Inception now. 😅

I've always figured it's because those types of people maybe tend to watch Kdramas to see the MLs rather than the FLs, and so will also be overly critical of their own sex. I also just think that a large number of Kdrama FLs are written poorly. I never get the hate and trash-talking surrounding ACTORS, though. It usually has to do with bad writing, so why blame the actress? There are obviously exceptions to this, and there ARE bad actresses (but honestly, the male actors get much more of a pass, especially if they're idols, they sometimes just look pretty and stare and people will love them), but I think the entertainment industry is still trying to figure out how to write female characters.

It's certainly a painful watch, in some places more than others, haha, but I can see why it was popular at the time. :) I still prefer BOFs to this (despite it being quite toxic at times), but both have some elements that have NOT aged well. 😅 This one also has a distinct makjang flavor to it, which, as a genre, leans more heavily into the cliches and super big ups and downs in the plot and for the characters from what I've seen. 😏

Honestly, I think this could be one of those dramas that made many of these cliches more mainstream. It was hugely popular when it aired, and you're right this has so many big actors, but I think most of them weren't super big yet, so they weren't all popular or well-known when cast (hence the large, star-studded cast list). I think this drama was responsible for launching forward some of their careers.

😅👍 (I hope it ends well because I love Zhao Lusi; she's an amazing actress!).

What are your theories on why costume Chinese dramas largely have sad or open endings? First of all, they're almost all fantasy of one sort or another, so having a "realistic" ending for the "stakes involved" is complete garbage, and never held water for me as a reason. These stories have nothing to do with realism, and therefore they don't need to follow the rules of endings that reflect "realism." Why don't the storytellers realize that people who want to watch fantasy usually want fantastical endings? And there are zero rules for these worlds that can't be easily explained away by another made-up rule, so it makes no sense why so many end this way when most watchers don't want sad endings. If the makers do know this and purposely don't deliver in order to manipulate watchers, than I have issues with that. It sounds like a money grab (though I guess it's my fault for assuming the entertainment industry is into storytelling for any other reason besides money, like it would be a mistake to assume a politician could be a good person with good intentions 😑).

I am trying Till The End Of The Moon and at Episode 12, and I feel like I'm watching some version of Inception in fantasy xianxia world and also might have to face a sad ending, too. It's already been quite painful to watch at some points (and I feel like the storytellers want me to feel bad for the ML but I can't because he's a terrible person so far; I'm not interested in MLs who are good to the FL (or beautiful) but bad people still, nope, not for me), and I just don't know if a sad ending (even an open ending), will make the series worth it. Or maybe xianxia is just too much for me. 🤷‍♀️ I definitely think I enjoy the more pseudo-historical Cdramas better so far. They're more grounded.

That said, I will not try TSOPG until I know it's not a sad or open ending, and until it's over.

Cool, so... that hopefully means he improves (?). 😅 I'm a big fan of growth arcs so if there are changes ahead (even if they're slow in coming), I'm 100% seated. I just needed a gentle nudge to keep going. 😅

I mean, I assumed he grows on you, hence why so many people like this, but I don't like when a character grows on you but not because they actually become good but because excuses are made for their behavior and they're framed by the storytellers as "likable" and "pitiable."

And I hate that, because then I feel manipulated into liking a character I shouldn't like.

I'm on Episode 10. Sometimes I feel super bad for the ML, and sometimes he's completely awful and I just have no sympathy for him and think he totally gets what he deserves (so far, love the FL, though; I love that she keeps realizing she can't punish a person for something they haven't done yet, though, to be fair, the MLs already not squeaky clean, even if he's not as bad as his character in Episode 1, he's still done some shady things). Does he improve/get more likable?

You go! I love not having Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. :) Enjoy unfettered freedom. ☺️

A teensy part of me actually wanted Xiao Se as emperor. He would have made such a good ruler/leader, and I wasn't ever super impressed with Prince Bai. He wasn't awful, but he wasn't my favorite either. He certainly grew on me, and I DID enjoy the twist at the end with the scrolls. It was a sweet brother moment. It could have been even cooler if the brothers had had more of a bond and connection, though.

This was lots of fun. I'm new to wuxia, so I'm still finding my feet, but I enjoyed the camaraderie and brotherhood, alliances and self-sacrificing. It reminded me a lot of the chivalric romances from the late medieval/renaissance period + magic. I'm struck by the optimism of this world, the belief that with time cultivating and practicing, they can always get better. No one is ever seated safely at the top of the Top-Ranked List...

(Did LOTR filmmakers watch wuxia? The elves' hair and style from it feels so much like the male characters' hair and style in these dramas!).

At times it felt a bit meandering, and sometimes I'd have to think a bit while watching to figure out how the scene fit into the larger story, and it wasn't always obvious. 😂

The characters were a lot of fun, and I loved watching each character (especially Xiao Se) come into their own. There were some great scenes with the main core group of friends, and they were hands down always my favorite.

A few gripes:

1) Not enough Wuxin (also, that guy does NOT look 17, sorry). The poster, cast list and opening episodes teased him as a main role, and Xiao Se's "best friend," but he really wasn't in it much, nor was he with the friends nearly as much as I would have liked. I did love how they tied together moments in the opening episodes to moments in the final. That was a nice touch!

2) The martial arts technique exposition every time a new character showed up with some skills. I know it was for our (the audience's) benefit, and there were a lot of really fun fight scenes, but it started to get old. Xiao Se spent most of his limited dialogue on exposition about martial arts technique (is this a wuxia thing, or a BoY thing?). It was like getting introduced to new super heroes with new powers constantly, and it was just a lot to take in, and so many charscters and skills to keep track of. So much telling and I would have liked more showing. (Why were there so many Sword Deities? 😂).

3) Xiao Se spent much of the drama being grumpy; I would have liked to see the gradual change a bit more in the small, tedious moments (there was definitely a progression of growth for him, don't get me wrong, but I felt like he pulled out his gem-ness so rarely that it was disappointing since it came out only for the big, grand gestures rather than for smaller, more insignificant ones). I also would have loved to see the wispies nixed... 🫣

4) I don't know why they bothered with the romance. There really was no chemistry between either of the main couples. 😬 If they kept them all friends nothing about the story would have changed.

Overall, though, a great watch!! I enjoyed it very much, gripes aside.

If I remember correctly, the characters get more likeable after that point.

Well, I think if they didn't miss their kid that would be really messed up. 😅 It was also to emphasize that they had built a life together. They have their biggest reason for making their relationship work in the existence of their son. If they're separating because they had squabbles, misunderstandings and the frustrations that all families go through, then it's best for them (because it's best for HIM) to restore the relationship.

It's obviously not good to continue something abusive, but outside of that, if both parties are willing, things can be sorted out if they really work on things, put in the effort and want to mend the brokenness and hurt. I think that's what the show was trying to demonstrate.

Really? Haha, I thought that the ML was insufferable (Jang Na Ra is just so cute; both had their problems at the beginning, though, to be sure). Thankfully the ML improves, but he was quite the pill at first. 🤣

Agreed! It's quite good!

Well, it doesn't happen in Season 1, because that's what happens in Season 2... 😬

Apparently only two or three of the kids from the entire group survive. Hard pass.

Yes, it's not quite as long, and I think I liked it better (though both series are good in their own way). I prefer the ML in the Double (both the ML and FL in The Double are like the FL and ML in LLTG if both in LLTG were more educated and trained in court etiquette and charm). I also like the way the revenge was handled better in the The Double and the ML didn't have such a major slip-up at the end. The main couple just feels more mature in The Double in the way they handle things, and their chemistry and flirting is fire, haha. The way they also team up to get things done because they are both so intelligent and the way they riff off of each is super fun to watch.

There's also an added 5 minute episode that improves the ending and can be watched in lieu of the last 30 minutes of the last episode. If you go to the Double page and ask about it, people can provide a link to it as it's not on the official platforms (but it is an official release). Enjoy!

My biggest pet peeve with the dubbing in Cdramas in when they use adults to voice children. It sounds so cringey and fake, like a man trying to mimicking the way a women talks, or vice versa.

There are adult voice actors who can voice children, but they apparently haven't found them for the Chinese dubbing in Cdramas. 😅

There's not a ton of intimacy in this, not compared to a romantic Kdrama, for instance. Some flirting, but not as much flirting as in, say, The Double. Or at least it didn't feel quite as intense as the flirting in that drama.

Yeah, definitely not. Flawed, for sure, but feisty and adorable. She feels feral at times due to her neglected upbringing so that your heart goes out to her (at least mine did).

And Zhao Lusi just rocks her part and makes Shao Sheng so lovable.