Lack of Communication : Real Main Character of the Drama
Some Chinese Xianxias - with all the immortal mumbo jumbo - should take a leaf out of Korean drama books and wrap up in 12 or maximum 16 episodes. Eternal Love of Dream is one of those.
I’m super late to the party. I watched this drama 2-3 years after it came out. Normally, I’d watch it and move on. But a few things in this drama irked me so much, that I had to take my frustration out.
Feng Jiu and Dong Hua were introduced to us in TMOPB. ELOD borrowed the characters from TMOPB, but the track is entirely different. The track solely focuses on Jiu and Dong Hua’s story, but it’s a reboot from their original one. The issue is there is not much of a story. It’s a collection of tropes and consequently, scenes. There are four parts, initial meeting, his tribulations in the mortal realm, hers and the final battle with the main villain, Miao Lou, who is just there. The drama does not clearly answer what she is after or what her motivations are. Very two dimensional and therefore entirely forgettable. The ongoing conflict between her and Dong Hua feels unnecessary and adds nothing to anyone’s character development.
As usual, the CGI leaves something to be desired. It’s not the worst, nor is it the best. The costume, production are also per the norm. Nothing memorable. On a personal note, I have no idea how any of those in the Tai Chen palace manage to get any sleep, with no doors and constant bright light. It’s mostly an eternal sunshine of the bright day there. The background score is so-so.
Now the characters and actors. Vengo Gao’s Dong Hua is fun to watch - well most of the times. VG captured Dong Hua’s smug superiority and mischievous nature quite well. As for the character, barring some very questionable and arbitrary decisions, it’s an alright character. Since from the beginning he supposedly outclasses every single person around him, there is no room for growth for him. The only change is he falls in love. That would have been more impactful if they had shown his weariness and aloneness born out of long years and being the best at everything. He remains the same through out and that makes him boring to me.
FL Bai Feng Jiu. What do I even say there. Oh mercy! Her childishness did not annoy me per se; after all she is pretty young by their immortal standards. But her character remains exactly that way until the last 10 min. What’s the point of any drama if the characters do not either evolve or devolve? I like Dilraba. She is extremely pretty and can act well. But in this drama, if you replace her with any xyz actress, it would not make an iota difference. Her presence is that ordinary. Her inner self when she transforms into a fox is so cringe that I was second hand embarrassed.
Almost all the supporting characters exist only to either assist or hinder the main characters. So none of them have engaging stories, even when they have their own romance track. One noteworthy character, for me, was Yan. His impatient, young and funny demon deserved so much better than the whiny, superficial Ji Heng. I truly felt sorry for him.
I don’t get this weird obsession some C-dramas have with infantilizing the FLs. Here DH treatment of Jiu was such that at times their intimate scenes felt like cradle robbing to me. Why is a fully grown woman, goddess, or immortal suddenly not adult enough to deserve the same explanations the ML freely gives his buddy? Conversely, why can’t the FL share the reasons behind her erratic—and frankly foolish—behavior with the ML, especially when he asks, yet she has no trouble explaining it to secondary or even tertiary characters? People, just talk. If even 50% of the time you spend on inner monologues is spent on talking with the other person, 90% of the idiotic conflicts and misunderstandings can be avoided. There is more to romance than skinship. RME. This drama could have been 20 episodes long, had the leads just communicated with each other. Why two supposedly grown adults need a translator just to explain their actions to each other is truly beyond me.
It could have been a truly delightful drama. DH had been so lonely for so long. A slip of a woman slowly brought him out of his shell and showed him the bright side of immortality. Jiu went beyond her infatuation and truly understood the man behind the perfect immortal whom everybody had put on a pedestal. There was so much potential. But ELOD only used the same old tropey formulae that it ended up being an entirely forgettable watch. Utterly disappointing!
I’m super late to the party. I watched this drama 2-3 years after it came out. Normally, I’d watch it and move on. But a few things in this drama irked me so much, that I had to take my frustration out.
Feng Jiu and Dong Hua were introduced to us in TMOPB. ELOD borrowed the characters from TMOPB, but the track is entirely different. The track solely focuses on Jiu and Dong Hua’s story, but it’s a reboot from their original one. The issue is there is not much of a story. It’s a collection of tropes and consequently, scenes. There are four parts, initial meeting, his tribulations in the mortal realm, hers and the final battle with the main villain, Miao Lou, who is just there. The drama does not clearly answer what she is after or what her motivations are. Very two dimensional and therefore entirely forgettable. The ongoing conflict between her and Dong Hua feels unnecessary and adds nothing to anyone’s character development.
As usual, the CGI leaves something to be desired. It’s not the worst, nor is it the best. The costume, production are also per the norm. Nothing memorable. On a personal note, I have no idea how any of those in the Tai Chen palace manage to get any sleep, with no doors and constant bright light. It’s mostly an eternal sunshine of the bright day there. The background score is so-so.
Now the characters and actors. Vengo Gao’s Dong Hua is fun to watch - well most of the times. VG captured Dong Hua’s smug superiority and mischievous nature quite well. As for the character, barring some very questionable and arbitrary decisions, it’s an alright character. Since from the beginning he supposedly outclasses every single person around him, there is no room for growth for him. The only change is he falls in love. That would have been more impactful if they had shown his weariness and aloneness born out of long years and being the best at everything. He remains the same through out and that makes him boring to me.
FL Bai Feng Jiu. What do I even say there. Oh mercy! Her childishness did not annoy me per se; after all she is pretty young by their immortal standards. But her character remains exactly that way until the last 10 min. What’s the point of any drama if the characters do not either evolve or devolve? I like Dilraba. She is extremely pretty and can act well. But in this drama, if you replace her with any xyz actress, it would not make an iota difference. Her presence is that ordinary. Her inner self when she transforms into a fox is so cringe that I was second hand embarrassed.
Almost all the supporting characters exist only to either assist or hinder the main characters. So none of them have engaging stories, even when they have their own romance track. One noteworthy character, for me, was Yan. His impatient, young and funny demon deserved so much better than the whiny, superficial Ji Heng. I truly felt sorry for him.
I don’t get this weird obsession some C-dramas have with infantilizing the FLs. Here DH treatment of Jiu was such that at times their intimate scenes felt like cradle robbing to me. Why is a fully grown woman, goddess, or immortal suddenly not adult enough to deserve the same explanations the ML freely gives his buddy? Conversely, why can’t the FL share the reasons behind her erratic—and frankly foolish—behavior with the ML, especially when he asks, yet she has no trouble explaining it to secondary or even tertiary characters? People, just talk. If even 50% of the time you spend on inner monologues is spent on talking with the other person, 90% of the idiotic conflicts and misunderstandings can be avoided. There is more to romance than skinship. RME. This drama could have been 20 episodes long, had the leads just communicated with each other. Why two supposedly grown adults need a translator just to explain their actions to each other is truly beyond me.
It could have been a truly delightful drama. DH had been so lonely for so long. A slip of a woman slowly brought him out of his shell and showed him the bright side of immortality. Jiu went beyond her infatuation and truly understood the man behind the perfect immortal whom everybody had put on a pedestal. There was so much potential. But ELOD only used the same old tropey formulae that it ended up being an entirely forgettable watch. Utterly disappointing!
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