This review may contain spoilers
It's an eye-roll, type of angst.
At first, the only reason I even started watching Feud was because the two main leads are already written to be married.
Honestly, I didn’t think the visual effects were that bad. The art direction—from costumes and set design to VFX and color grading—was decent. It’s obvious the budget was limited, but they managed it fairly well and made the most of what they had.
One of the first things that completely annoyed me, though, was the background music and sound effects. The timing was often off, and some sounds were just not fitting for the scenes—like sound effects for something as small as blinking (seriously?). It reminded me of Thai comedy dramas or variety shows where every tiny movement gets a sound. As for the OSTs, most were solid, except for one song: “Pluck the Stars” by Su Jiang Xin. I get that it’s meant to be emotional, but it was so distracting it pulled me out of the scenes entirely. Like, can it calm down for a second?
Now onto acting and characters. Bai Lu delivered, as always. That said, her character felt very similar to Jiang Xue Ning (Story of the Kunning Palace) and Li Su Su (Till the End of the Moon). I expected more of a shift in her character dynamic, but there were only slight differences.
Joseph Zeng really surprised me here, especially with his facial expressions—they added a lot of depth to his character. I first saw him in Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and Bai Jiu Si is quite the opposite of his role there, which shows his range.
The second male lead, though—Zhang Suan, played by Chen Xin Hai—was the most disappointing. The character is already written to be annoying, especially if you’re rooting for the main couple. But Chen Xin Hai brought nothing extra to redeem that. Honestly, his delivery felt so stiff. There was a huge disconnect between his lines and his body language. His face barely changed, and his attempt at subtlety just came off as flat and empty—as if he didn’t know how to act. On top of that, his complexion always looked dull and sickly on screen.
On the flip side, He Rui Xian as Fan Linger made a great first impression. Her acting was solid, but her storyline didn’t live up to her potential. Instead of a meaningful arc, her character got reduced to a typical family conflict with her father—something that could’ve gone in a much more interesting direction.
Another standout was Hong Yao as Xiao Jing Shan. I’m not sure if he was dubbed (it wasn't listed anywhere), but if he wasn’t, then props to him. His diction and line delivery felt natural and his expressions added real weight to his role. He gave off “quality actor” energy.
As for the story itself, it was more cohesive than most xianxia dramas I’ve seen. That said, I ended up sympathizing more with Bai Jiu Si than Hua Ruyue. From the start, even though Ruyue seemed to care for others on the surface, her actions were mostly driven by self-interest. Everything began with what she wanted, not necessarily what was right. In her relationship with Jiu Si, he was the one constantly focused on her—doing everything for her happiness and safety. Meanwhile, she mainly focused on her own feelings and perspective, often disregarding his.
Take the situation with the child: Jiu Si didn't want one because Lord Yu Ya warned him that pregnancy would weaken Ruyue. Even if he had told her they needed to go take punishment for killing the drought dragon, the baby probably would’ve died anyway—or even Ruyue herself, considering they’d be struck by 99 lightning bolts daily. Jiu Si’s karma, I guess, was making that choice for her instead of letting her choose.
What really sealed my sympathy for him was how, after everything he did to protect her—including keeping her mortal for ten years to avoid divine punishment—he still got stabbed and imprisoned by her. All while hearing her say she hated him and wanted him dead. Then, when he finally learns the truth—that they had a child and lost him because of his actions—he’s emotionally wrecked. And to top it off, he watches the love of his life get burned and buried alive. Like, bro. That’s pain.
Overall, the story was okay. It felt tame for my taste, but it was digestible.
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*edit: Now that I’ve finished it, I have to say—the ending felt like it was written purely for convenience, just to avoid a “bad ending.” It was rushed and fell flat.
The villain’s motive, while initially understandable (his revenge being warped by the demonic energy he consumed), ended up feeling forced. The story tried to deepen his vendetta by turning it into this whole “restart the world through destruction” plot, but it lost me. It felt like it came out of nowhere and didn’t connect to his original reason for vengeance.
It would’ve made more sense if he had tampered with time to go back and save his family. That would’ve been consistent with his grief. But instead, they went with “erasing the killer’s name” as a resolution—like, bruh. Really?
Honestly, I didn’t think the visual effects were that bad. The art direction—from costumes and set design to VFX and color grading—was decent. It’s obvious the budget was limited, but they managed it fairly well and made the most of what they had.
One of the first things that completely annoyed me, though, was the background music and sound effects. The timing was often off, and some sounds were just not fitting for the scenes—like sound effects for something as small as blinking (seriously?). It reminded me of Thai comedy dramas or variety shows where every tiny movement gets a sound. As for the OSTs, most were solid, except for one song: “Pluck the Stars” by Su Jiang Xin. I get that it’s meant to be emotional, but it was so distracting it pulled me out of the scenes entirely. Like, can it calm down for a second?
Now onto acting and characters. Bai Lu delivered, as always. That said, her character felt very similar to Jiang Xue Ning (Story of the Kunning Palace) and Li Su Su (Till the End of the Moon). I expected more of a shift in her character dynamic, but there were only slight differences.
Joseph Zeng really surprised me here, especially with his facial expressions—they added a lot of depth to his character. I first saw him in Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and Bai Jiu Si is quite the opposite of his role there, which shows his range.
The second male lead, though—Zhang Suan, played by Chen Xin Hai—was the most disappointing. The character is already written to be annoying, especially if you’re rooting for the main couple. But Chen Xin Hai brought nothing extra to redeem that. Honestly, his delivery felt so stiff. There was a huge disconnect between his lines and his body language. His face barely changed, and his attempt at subtlety just came off as flat and empty—as if he didn’t know how to act. On top of that, his complexion always looked dull and sickly on screen.
On the flip side, He Rui Xian as Fan Linger made a great first impression. Her acting was solid, but her storyline didn’t live up to her potential. Instead of a meaningful arc, her character got reduced to a typical family conflict with her father—something that could’ve gone in a much more interesting direction.
Another standout was Hong Yao as Xiao Jing Shan. I’m not sure if he was dubbed (it wasn't listed anywhere), but if he wasn’t, then props to him. His diction and line delivery felt natural and his expressions added real weight to his role. He gave off “quality actor” energy.
As for the story itself, it was more cohesive than most xianxia dramas I’ve seen. That said, I ended up sympathizing more with Bai Jiu Si than Hua Ruyue. From the start, even though Ruyue seemed to care for others on the surface, her actions were mostly driven by self-interest. Everything began with what she wanted, not necessarily what was right. In her relationship with Jiu Si, he was the one constantly focused on her—doing everything for her happiness and safety. Meanwhile, she mainly focused on her own feelings and perspective, often disregarding his.
Take the situation with the child: Jiu Si didn't want one because Lord Yu Ya warned him that pregnancy would weaken Ruyue. Even if he had told her they needed to go take punishment for killing the drought dragon, the baby probably would’ve died anyway—or even Ruyue herself, considering they’d be struck by 99 lightning bolts daily. Jiu Si’s karma, I guess, was making that choice for her instead of letting her choose.
What really sealed my sympathy for him was how, after everything he did to protect her—including keeping her mortal for ten years to avoid divine punishment—he still got stabbed and imprisoned by her. All while hearing her say she hated him and wanted him dead. Then, when he finally learns the truth—that they had a child and lost him because of his actions—he’s emotionally wrecked. And to top it off, he watches the love of his life get burned and buried alive. Like, bro. That’s pain.
Overall, the story was okay. It felt tame for my taste, but it was digestible.
-------
*edit: Now that I’ve finished it, I have to say—the ending felt like it was written purely for convenience, just to avoid a “bad ending.” It was rushed and fell flat.
The villain’s motive, while initially understandable (his revenge being warped by the demonic energy he consumed), ended up feeling forced. The story tried to deepen his vendetta by turning it into this whole “restart the world through destruction” plot, but it lost me. It felt like it came out of nowhere and didn’t connect to his original reason for vengeance.
It would’ve made more sense if he had tampered with time to go back and save his family. That would’ve been consistent with his grief. But instead, they went with “erasing the killer’s name” as a resolution—like, bruh. Really?
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