Firefly88

I think they've both realised by now they care for each other and the FL has admitted she deliberately chose to like the Sergeant for her own wellbeing. They are going to have to work out how to be together without destroying the friendship between the Sergeant and Crown Prince, and I think he is held back by that and also to honour the official nature of the engagement.

If there wasn't the episode cap, we could have had another 20 episodes of this lovely drama.

I wanted to start it, but decided to wait a bit cause I just finished Chongzi and need to allow Jeremy Tsui to "unbecome" Luo Yinfan in my head lol.

I liked both but neither have given me withdrawal. I haven't had that since Ancient Love Poetry. That drama penetrated my soul it hooked me so much.

What a beautiful drama. A worthy successor of Ashes of Love!

Do you like xianxias (like this one)? Your watchlist is fairly short. There are loads of fantastic xianxias that have aired in the last few years. These are my favourites:

Eternal Love (aka 10 Miles of Peach Blossom) is the mother of all xianxias. It's more mature than this drama. This drama comes across as being aimed at a younger audience.

"Eternal Love of Dream" is the sequel to Eternal Love. First arc is bit boring, but it gets so much better so bear with it.

Ancient Love Poetry - my alltime favourite xianxia.

Love & Destiny - Exceptional, but for a more mature audience with older leads.

Love & Redemption - Seems to be aimed at a similar age audience as TSL. The FL and 2FL do the whole baby cute whiny brat act, however the story is long and complex which totally makes up for that.

Ever Night - Excellent but totally different from all the ones above. Very unique drama set in the human world.

Ashes of Love - We can thank the success of Ashes of Love for TSL because it's the same production team.

I suggest you start with Ashes of Love.

Yes, I have adjusted my ratings based on MDL (obvs every platform has its own way of rating). I sometimes give 10s for my all time favourites. For me, 10 is exceptional and flawless. 9.5 is slightly flawed, but almost perfect. 9s are for great dramas but not perfect. 8.5 is very good. 8 is goodish but very flawed. 7.5 for me is a drama that is more bad than good and 7s are so bad they're totally unwatchable. Anything below should never have been made. 🤣
I gave Mr. Queen a 9 because I loved it but didn't like the ending the first time I watched it
but I rewatched it recently and didn't dislike the ending like I did the first time, so I might change my score.
(I haven't finished Waikiki yet!)

You're not wrong that she drags him down and the moment I saw the casting I felt sorry for KJH. Why couldn't he get a fantastic FL like in Mr. Queen who can carry her own? But for me the FL's acting is weak, not dire.

Actually, for me I will rate it a 9/10. 8.3 is a compromise score for balance between the people who don't like it and the people who love it. I personally think it's a great drama with a few minor flaws. The FL isn't that bad. C drama FLs are infinitely worse. See Falling into your smile? Great example of a FL who genuinely can't act at all.

She's just not a talented actress, she shouldn't get main roles.

I suspect it's more her than the role.

Actually, I think that's a real thing. Story telling in Asian dramas is different, but they and also the audiences struggle with more condensed stories. I watched some Western TV in the last few days and it struck me how stories only pick highlights and viewers have to connect the dots between. In a way, this method of storytelling speeds up the pace but also leaves a bit of room for interpretation. I feel like Asian drama audiences expect to be spoonfed more if you know what I mean.

In my experiencr, Western dramas edit like this all the time because viewers ought to be able to fill in the gaps between a kidnapping and police storming the building followed by the searching for the culprit first identified by Han Cheol and then Han Gye Jeol.
Anyway, the connection seemed obvious to me.

But what do you mean by Kokdu's brother's rescue? That was also explained if I'm thinking of the right part. You mean when the coach drugs him in the swimming pool? Kokdu happens to be looking for him for a different reason, and finds him upside down in the pool and gets him out just in time, realises he is the reincarnation of his brother and then Kokdu takes him home. Is that the part you mean? Or have I forgotten some other subplot?

It's not one of my favourites, but it's still better than this one 😅

It's a long drama though. 20 episodes. It was never going to be rushed. Also, she's engaged to his best friend.

Some rabid fans foaming at the mouth already I see... If you're this obsessed with an actor, see a therapist. 🙄

Thanks for the tip. What's it called?

You mean mini like a 2 min episode drama?

Out of 10? 🤣

The ending got an eye roll from me. Rushed too. What a flop... A watchable flop admittedly, but too bad to be good and not bad enough to be hilariously bad either.
Pros
1) Yang Chaoyue's Zi Mo costume and hair piece were stunning. Love the purple.
2) Beautiful OST songs (added to my collection!)
3) The portrayal of magic was quite special in the first episode, but seemed to change later on.
I'm done. Now...
Cons
1) The story itself
So... repetitive... So... illogical.
2) The characters as envisioned by the creators and performers
The characters are shallow, immature and often illogical. There is no depth, no soul, just superficial nonsense. The real magic in xianxias is the personal growth, the depth of feeling and complexity of circumstances. This drama has none of that.
3) The script
Boring as hell.
4) The pacing of the story
Very slow, arcs repeat the same story line over and over. Rushed ending. Seems to be a common theme with dramas recently... Bad pacing.
5) Most of the villains don't get what they deserve, they just continue to be awful people in their roles with zero consequences.
6) The childish acting of most of the cast, but especially Yang Chaoyue whose performance in the first arc seems inspired by a 4-6 year old. Far more tolerable as a demon. 2ML's childish performance equally dreadful. There's no depth to any of the characters at all. Tragic.
7) The reverse harem that has no purpose other than to fawn on the FL. The 2ML could have not been in the drama he wouldn't be missed.

What is it with all the shallow, badly executed xianxias this year? What's going on? I need a new favourite to rival 10 Miles of Peach Blossom, Love & Destiny, Ancient Love Poetry and the like! 😭