Zhuo Hao is the absolute worst. He came off as a stereotypical flamboyant gay to me when he first showed up.But…
@Firefly88 it’s not totally her fault. they wrote her character like this and probably directed her to play her as a pouty baby. And directed Jeremy to play like a 60 year old senior to a pouty baby. the whole thing just doesn’t work romantically. it’s cringy. I’m ready for the Demon Arc lol
The Wan Jie arc was the best arc and should have been longer and leading right into the Demon Arc.
This middle arc was just done badly plot wise and character development wise and could be entirely or mostly skipped and it would not have much impact on the show.
I miss you Wan Jie. You were way more compelling to me as a character than Yifan/Shifu has been. Sigh. Bring on Demon Chong Zi. I’m ready for her.
I’ll confess. I skipped shortly after Wan Jie died to the point Chong Zi reincarnated. I’m pissed off at 90%…
the best part of the show was the Wan Jie arc. in fact, I liked their relationship chemistry way more than the ML /Shifu relationship. The whole show would have been better without this middle arc and making the Wan Jie arc longer, then killing her and her becoming a demon.
seriously, this middle arc has just been weird and annoying more than anything. totally useless!
Why iqiyi didn't make previews for episodes 11 and 12 ?
they usually don’t release them on their app right away. check later in the day or night time. sometimes they post them on YouTube but not the app and only a day later on the app. . it’s really weird
Am I the only one getting slightly annoyed at the main OST playing in almost every episode and even in scenes…
it’s kind of a signature in the collaborations between this director and Sa Ding Ding who is the musical director. Same for Ashes of Love, The Blue Whisper…. personally it’s one of the things I LIKE about their projects. For me, the musical theme is a tie that binds their scenes all together and adds a cherry on top. But it’s definitely something that only some people like. Otherw find it annoying or overbearing or intrusive. For me, I always love Sa Ding Dings musical choices and themes so they add instead of detract from the vibe for me.
We have weakness in our nature, choose to surrender especially to those we love and once you've lost them... isn't…
Yeah you have a whole other idea of how peoples personalities exist and apparently to you it’s not necessary for there to be any actual consistency in a persons personality or mannerisms while for me, maybe that can work if they have the same face, but now their face is different too so the complete and total lack of ANY character similarities for me does not in any way have the same emotional impact and recognition that this is the person I’ve watched for 20 episodes. And I’m not alone.
If it worked for you, GREAT! It did not for me, ok? For me, she literally may as well have been Jin Bu Yeon in part 2. An adorable sweet lovely endearing girl who made us all swoon and healed poor Uks heart, YES.
But she did NOT feel, at any point, not after recovering HER OWN memories, like person who lived through 20 episodes of story and that’s a problem with the storytelling because it takes away too much of the emotional impact. To see how it can be done watch TMOPB. Amnesia CAN work. Here, she’s the same for all intents & purposes during and post amnesia. Which dilutes everything. Sorry.
why would she be the same if she has no memory of who she was and was fed with whatever PRIESTESS information…
Yeah that did not work for me. You are your memories and experiences., There are some innate things about a person that quite literally make people who they are. This isn’t about her being who Jin Mu made her…. This is about her being who she was and is IN SPITE of Jin Mu, in spite of Jin. Bu Yeon. In spite of everything. And ALLLL of that was erased from her personality and she didn’t become who she would have been as Cho Yeong, that’s some convenient assumption. This person was locked up for 3 years and had amnesia yes……. But there was no emotional connection felt between the return of her memories and her. From start to finish it felt like she was recovering small pieces of someone else’s memory rather than her own. And that never changed even at the end which is why the grand reveal did not have that extreme punch & payoff that we waited for and even Uk’s reaction underwhelmed.
It was poor writing and poor execution that really made her become a one dimensional not very dynamic character which is a betrayal of the actual character who was one of the most interesting FL’s in Kdrama history.
I’m glad you felt no problem with it but for me it didn’t work. This kind of trope isn’t new, and it CAN be done and work, TMOPB did it and it worked amazingly, but here it did not. And it wasn’t because of the actress change though that did make it more complicated.
I wrote this in a longer reply but it sums up in short my main problem with Part 2. I still love and adore the show… But!!!
“In the context of the entire story and character development of our FL in Part 1, FL Part 2.0 just wasn’t a continuation for me, instead it was a new and separate character created with little to nothing resembling our FL of Naksu/Mudeok for me. Mudeok/Naksu pretty much died at episode 20 and this Part 2 character was not her at all. Instead, She was an avatar of her, diluted down to a not that smart, not that witty, one dimensional empty vessel written to heal Uks heart and host Jin Seol Rans powers and that’s pretty much it. That’s literally all there was to her. She was lovely and endearing but she was not, in any real way, the same soul from Part 1. And that’s a shame.”
Despite how much I loved the first few episodes of Part 2 because I’m a sucker for FLUFF, now that Part 2 is…
We all see and feel things differently. For me, I felt Part 2 relied on sexual chemistry and was benefitting from all of the buildup between our leads in Part 1. So of course if Part 2 is much shorter and most of the CP’s interactions are physical intimacy some could say “look at the chemistry!” But ironically, this cheapened it for me because I personally felt tons of chemistry from Part 1 CP, which simply had a reverse gender relationship in which the female was the cold one, but that coldness is what made the moments of vulnerability that much more compelling. Had JSM been given the same script as GYJ for part 2, I’m sure people would have swooned the same and screamed “look at the chemistry”
GYJ was given all the romantic intimate parts with none of the baggage and a blank slate personality so it’s super easy to just make her whatever avatar is needed to advance the plot.
But she is an avatar. She’s not Naksu or Mudeok or the super smart, witty, one step ahead of everyone heroin that we spent 20 episodes with. Literally none of the signature things about her personality are there in Part 2. Instead she is an empty vessel who just wants to not be locked up and then becomes a vessel for Jin Bu Yeon/Jin Seol Ran and again, we are given nothing to show us who SHE is,
In one scene she says “ I’m going to find out who I am and I’m going to decorate my room in my own taste”
But literally we don’t even get that. Not a single scene of her dressed as anything other than Bu Yeon.
So for me, it’s almost irrelevant that she’s Naksu’s soul or Bu Yeons soul. In the end, she was stuck in Bu Yeons body and for all intents and purposes she had what felt much more like what a Bu Yeon personality might be than her 20 episode personality. Episode 20 of Part 1 was absolutely devastating. Uk at the beginning of Part 2 clearly portrays his devastation and carried forward that pain and angst so well. But then it just kind of all gets diluted for me when he doesn’t ever figure out she’s Naksu. And yet that’s the point, he never figured it out because there was literally practically no similarities other than these Uber heavy handed quotes they use under “someone else’s memories”
Anyway……. I’m Happy the Part 2 romance worked for you well. It worked for me well only as a stand-alone fluffy romance that is sort of detached from the show. But in the context of the entire story it just wasn’t a continuation for me, it was a new character created and Naksu/Mudeok really pretty much died at episode 20 and this Part 2 character was not her at all. She was an avatar of her diluted down to a not that smart, not that witty, one dimensional vessel to heal Uks heart and host Jin Seol Rans powers and that’s pretty much it.
My unpopular opinion that kept this in the 8-9 rating range after completing part 2 below
Despite how much I loved the first few episodes of Part 2 because I’m a sucker for FLUFF, now that Part 2 is over I can confidently say that for me, there was little to nothing in Part 2’s Naksu /Jin Bu Yeon that was similar to Part 1 to the point that for me…… they genuinely might as well be two actual different people. I kept waiting for the moment, the moment when the spark that tied the two together from part 1 to Part 2 would click like, yes….. this is Mudeok! This is our girl! I can see her I can feel her…… but it never came. While what we are SUPPOSED to have felt was Uk falling in love with the same soul again, what it ACTUALLY felt like for me, was Uk fell in love with a new person who just had some of the other persons memories. when she got her full memories it never actually felt like I expected to feel where a rush would come over her and she is the person SHAPED by all of those experiences. instead it was literally like even she felt like it happened to someone else the entirety of part 2.
The entire way the plot unfolded really strongly made it feel much more like Uk had TRULY gotten over his first love and fallen in love with a new person WHO genuinely was not Mudeok or Naksu and while I love loved the kissing scenes it feels kind of like a cheap way to shortcut chemistry to cover up for the fact that there wasn’t much else THERE there. And her personality from start to finish of Part 2 was drastically different. yes, she is now more like what she would have been pre-Jin Mu, but this was way way more drastic to the point that to me, she might as well have really been Jin Bu Yeon, new person who just could see Naksu’s memories. I won’t even get into the absurdity of the the MULTIPLE souls, the young Jin BY/Mudeok, what Jin Seol Ran was doing in Sari village all those years that now makes no sense without mental gymnastics etc…… I don’t want to analyze all the MANY MANY plot holes and nonsensical things that happened.
For me the basic failure of Part 2 is that Naksu never ever felt like Naksu to me. NONE of the personality that Mudeok had existed in JinBuYeon/Naksu 2.0
this is no fault of GYJ and not a criticism of her. it seems like the plot just wasn’t there for her to do much more than be doe eyed and swooning and cry. I didn’t want assassin Naksu and said it multiple times. what I DID want was to FEEL like it was the same SOUL in both parts and I honestly did not. And it doesn’t help that UK didn’t either. they literally make him think he’s in love with a new person until her eyes flash and even then I kept waiting for BOTH of them to have some kind of recognition that would make me break completely down but instead………. it just wasn’t there. Even the scene when they finally get to the top of the tree felt completely underwhelming. She’s not just not Mudeok. She doesn’t feel like anyone from Part 1. She just feels like someone cobbled together to serve the plot and serve the fluff and give us a happy ending. To me, she’s a muted melted diluted character that resembles little to nothing of the person we grew attached to in Part 1 unfortunately. All the kissing sessions in the world can’t cover up that up. I loved the finale for many reasons but the overall plot and execution of Part 2 felt like it was Uk and Bu Yeon with some of Naksu’s memories more than Uk & the same soul that lived in MuDeok and lived THROUGH all that time with him. I felt myself missing Jung So Min way more than I expected when all was said and done.
So wait let me get this out of my chest. So in the end, the consciousness belongs to Cho Yeong’s but how come…
Don’t ask questions that require an answer that will make sense lol
I **think** we basically supposed to assume that Jin Seol Ran is essentially letting Naksu permanently inhabit the Jin Bu Yeon body while she stays in the other world to watch over everyone. She’s still there……. But not there….. so Naksu keeps the powers and the body 🤷🏻♀️
None of it makes sense but we have to just roll with it lol
1 
This middle arc was just done badly plot wise and character development wise and could be entirely or mostly skipped and it would not have much impact on the show.
I miss you Wan Jie. You were way more compelling to me as a character than Yifan/Shifu has been. Sigh. Bring on Demon Chong Zi. I’m ready for her.
seriously, this middle arc has just been weird and annoying more than anything. totally useless!
I want a QI man!!!!
Ashes of Love
The Blue Whisper
The Starry Love
^^^^^ I would say these 3 have the most in common and if you like this style of drama you should watch all 3^^^^
If it worked for you, GREAT! It did not for me, ok? For me, she literally may as well have been Jin Bu Yeon in part 2. An adorable sweet lovely endearing girl who made us all swoon and healed poor Uks heart, YES.
But she did NOT feel, at any point, not after recovering HER OWN memories, like person who lived through 20 episodes of story and that’s a problem with the storytelling because it takes away too much of the emotional impact. To see how it can be done watch TMOPB. Amnesia CAN work. Here, she’s the same for all intents & purposes during and post amnesia. Which dilutes everything. Sorry.
It was poor writing and poor execution that really made her become a one dimensional not very dynamic character which is a betrayal of the actual character who was one of the most interesting FL’s in Kdrama history.
I’m glad you felt no problem with it but for me it didn’t work. This kind of trope isn’t new, and it CAN be done and work, TMOPB did it and it worked amazingly, but here it did not. And it wasn’t because of the actress change though that did make it more complicated.
“In the context of the entire story and character development of our FL in Part 1, FL Part 2.0 just wasn’t a continuation for me, instead it was a new and separate character created with little to nothing resembling our FL of Naksu/Mudeok for me. Mudeok/Naksu pretty much died at episode 20 and this Part 2 character was not her at all. Instead, She was an avatar of her, diluted down to a not that smart, not that witty, one dimensional empty vessel written to heal Uks heart and host Jin Seol Rans powers and that’s pretty much it. That’s literally all there was to her. She was lovely and endearing but she was not, in any real way, the same soul from Part 1. And that’s a shame.”
GYJ was given all the romantic intimate parts with none of the baggage and a blank slate personality so it’s super easy to just make her whatever avatar is needed to advance the plot.
But she is an avatar. She’s not Naksu or Mudeok or the super smart, witty, one step ahead of everyone heroin that we spent 20 episodes with. Literally none of the signature things about her personality are there in Part 2. Instead she is an empty vessel who just wants to not be locked up and then becomes a vessel for Jin Bu Yeon/Jin Seol Ran and again, we are given nothing to show us who SHE is,
In one scene she says “ I’m going to find out who I am and I’m going to decorate my room in my own taste”
But literally we don’t even get that. Not a single scene of her dressed as anything other than Bu Yeon.
So for me, it’s almost irrelevant that she’s Naksu’s soul or Bu Yeons soul. In the end, she was stuck in Bu Yeons body and for all intents and purposes she had what felt much more like what a Bu Yeon personality might be than her 20 episode personality. Episode 20 of Part 1 was absolutely devastating. Uk at the beginning of Part 2 clearly portrays his devastation and carried forward that pain and angst so well. But then it just kind of all gets diluted for me when he doesn’t ever figure out she’s Naksu. And yet that’s the point, he never figured it out because there was literally practically no similarities other than these Uber heavy handed quotes they use under “someone else’s memories”
Anyway……. I’m
Happy the Part 2 romance worked for you well. It worked for me well only as a stand-alone fluffy romance that is sort of detached from the show. But in the context of the entire story it just wasn’t a continuation for me, it was a new character created and Naksu/Mudeok really pretty much died at episode 20 and this Part 2 character was not her at all. She was an avatar of her diluted down to a not that smart, not that witty, one dimensional vessel to heal Uks heart and host Jin Seol Rans powers and that’s pretty much it.
The entire way the plot unfolded really strongly made it feel much more like Uk had TRULY gotten over his first love and fallen in love with a new person WHO genuinely was not Mudeok or Naksu and while I love loved the kissing scenes it feels kind of like a cheap way to shortcut chemistry to cover up for the fact that there wasn’t much else THERE there. And her personality from start to finish of Part 2 was drastically different. yes, she is now more like what she would have been pre-Jin Mu, but this was way way more drastic to the point that to me, she might as well have really been Jin Bu Yeon, new person who just could see Naksu’s memories. I won’t even get into the absurdity of the the MULTIPLE souls, the young Jin BY/Mudeok, what Jin Seol Ran was doing in Sari village all those years that now makes no sense without mental gymnastics etc…… I don’t want to analyze all the MANY MANY plot holes and nonsensical things that happened.
For me the basic failure of Part 2 is that Naksu never ever felt like Naksu to me. NONE of the personality that Mudeok had existed in JinBuYeon/Naksu 2.0
this is no fault of GYJ and not a criticism of her. it seems like the plot just wasn’t there for her to do much more than be doe eyed and swooning and cry. I didn’t want assassin Naksu and said it multiple times. what I DID want was to FEEL like it was the same SOUL in both parts and I honestly did not. And it doesn’t help that UK didn’t either. they literally make him think he’s in love with a new person until her eyes flash and even then I kept waiting for BOTH of them to
have some kind of recognition that would make me break completely down but instead………. it just wasn’t there. Even the scene when they finally get to the top of the tree felt completely underwhelming. She’s not just not Mudeok. She doesn’t feel like anyone from Part 1. She just feels like someone cobbled together to serve the plot and serve the fluff and give us a happy ending. To me, she’s a muted melted diluted character that resembles little to nothing of the person we grew attached to in Part 1 unfortunately. All the kissing sessions in the world can’t cover up that up.
I loved the finale for many reasons but the overall plot and execution of Part 2 felt like it was Uk and Bu Yeon with some of Naksu’s memories more than Uk & the same soul that lived in MuDeok and lived THROUGH all that time with him. I felt myself missing Jung So Min way more than I expected when all was said and done.
I **think** we basically supposed to assume that Jin Seol Ran is essentially letting Naksu permanently inhabit the Jin Bu Yeon body while she stays in the other world to watch over everyone. She’s still there……. But not there….. so Naksu keeps the powers and the body 🤷🏻♀️
None of it makes sense but we have to just roll with it lol