grab your tissues bc this is a tragic love story (with 3 arcs!)
First impressions: Tbh I initially watched this bc of Cheng Duling haha. Intro is actually hella fire holy and the costuming is amazing as well. This show has the most cgi and special effects I've seen.
TLDR; The shows’s strongest trait is def the costuming/makeup and special visual effects. Everyone is rocking the eyeliner, even the masc characters which is fire imo. I wasn't expecting much based on synopsis, but it was not a letdown (for the romcom). There's no option for set design, but I see you set designers and your work was amazing. Also costuming and makeup hello?? Why does everyone look good esp in black 😭. Everything is so on-theme--music, set, costuming and makeup--during the dream arc I was actually stunned at how well it was I had to write abt it haha. In terms of romance (which is what I watch for), there are misunderstandings (which I hate) as a result of poor communication, but the characters aren't dumb or try to get back at the other bc of an argument, which does redeem it a little bit. And the side romances are also really sweet. Hot take but, the story isn't as strong as the romance, as there's some logic that just doesn't quite sit right with me/makes sense to me, but it was still enjoyable. Everyone says ep 36 is the true ending, and that’s bc it's def not for the faint of heart. If you want a happy ending that should be the last ep. Acting is amazing, and there are a lot of subtle facial expressions in the slight twitches of the eyebrow/mouth that make it seem natural. There is a wide variety of songs and bg pieces. The lyrics are also quite fitting to the story and have callbacks to what happens. I initially did have more reason to rewatch it but after the ending, it kinda broke me a bit.
Story: The "evil" character is truly nuanced. The writers did an amazing job fleshing out this character. It really drives the impact of perspective in determining who's really evil or not. It was more like he was pushed to act the way he did rather than just bc he's "evil." Okay, the one thing I hated was the misunderstandings esp from the dream arc and you know I hate that type of shit where they're pushing the other away bc they don't want them to get hurt even though what you're doing is HURTING THEM ANYWAY like?? urgghh surely there’s a better way to create conflict? There are mushy parts, but instead of being cringy, they're rather sweet. There's a part after the Bo're dream arc that I didn't like, but in hindsight, it does set up some things that make sense later. And the last arc does redeem p much everything that happened. Some of the logic seems flawed and kinda just written in there just bc it creates conflict, which is more prominent near the end starting on ep 37. I also got lost w/ the lore at that point and was confused on where the plot was going. All things considered, the ending isn't all that bad, it's just bittersweet and not the happily ever after everyone wants, but it def gave me lots of feels. There’s also some loose endings not addressed that are probably addressed in the book, but they’re not that major.
Acting/Cast: I love the fl's facial expressions esp during the awkward moments. The fl lead is actually the one taunting (in a playful way) the ml, which I quite enjoy. Pian Ran is the best right-wing woman--spirit(?) I've seen so far like she's literally her bestie fr. Extra props to main leads bc even tho they play diff characters, there are subtle differences that distinguish from their different roles. There's def lots of chemistry between the main leads (apparently the same main actors costar in Love Is Sweet haha). Tan Taijin's behavior after a certain point in the story really makes me guess what's real and what's just faking, but ig that's just good acting.
Music: I haven't really paid attention to the bg music, but I noticed when they went into the serpent's dreams the music changes esp in the underwater area. And it actually sounds water-y if that makes sense, which is super cool.
Rewatch value: Def worth a rewatch for the romance, although it is certainly a committment since each ep is the length of a short film, and some are more than an hour long. If I did rewatch it would probs be for the romance and costuming/makeup, but unlikely since a lot happens that I don't know if I want to go thru all that again.
TLDR; The shows’s strongest trait is def the costuming/makeup and special visual effects. Everyone is rocking the eyeliner, even the masc characters which is fire imo. I wasn't expecting much based on synopsis, but it was not a letdown (for the romcom). There's no option for set design, but I see you set designers and your work was amazing. Also costuming and makeup hello?? Why does everyone look good esp in black 😭. Everything is so on-theme--music, set, costuming and makeup--during the dream arc I was actually stunned at how well it was I had to write abt it haha. In terms of romance (which is what I watch for), there are misunderstandings (which I hate) as a result of poor communication, but the characters aren't dumb or try to get back at the other bc of an argument, which does redeem it a little bit. And the side romances are also really sweet. Hot take but, the story isn't as strong as the romance, as there's some logic that just doesn't quite sit right with me/makes sense to me, but it was still enjoyable. Everyone says ep 36 is the true ending, and that’s bc it's def not for the faint of heart. If you want a happy ending that should be the last ep. Acting is amazing, and there are a lot of subtle facial expressions in the slight twitches of the eyebrow/mouth that make it seem natural. There is a wide variety of songs and bg pieces. The lyrics are also quite fitting to the story and have callbacks to what happens. I initially did have more reason to rewatch it but after the ending, it kinda broke me a bit.
Story: The "evil" character is truly nuanced. The writers did an amazing job fleshing out this character. It really drives the impact of perspective in determining who's really evil or not. It was more like he was pushed to act the way he did rather than just bc he's "evil." Okay, the one thing I hated was the misunderstandings esp from the dream arc and you know I hate that type of shit where they're pushing the other away bc they don't want them to get hurt even though what you're doing is HURTING THEM ANYWAY like?? urgghh surely there’s a better way to create conflict? There are mushy parts, but instead of being cringy, they're rather sweet. There's a part after the Bo're dream arc that I didn't like, but in hindsight, it does set up some things that make sense later. And the last arc does redeem p much everything that happened. Some of the logic seems flawed and kinda just written in there just bc it creates conflict, which is more prominent near the end starting on ep 37. I also got lost w/ the lore at that point and was confused on where the plot was going. All things considered, the ending isn't all that bad, it's just bittersweet and not the happily ever after everyone wants, but it def gave me lots of feels. There’s also some loose endings not addressed that are probably addressed in the book, but they’re not that major.
Acting/Cast: I love the fl's facial expressions esp during the awkward moments. The fl lead is actually the one taunting (in a playful way) the ml, which I quite enjoy. Pian Ran is the best right-wing woman--spirit(?) I've seen so far like she's literally her bestie fr. Extra props to main leads bc even tho they play diff characters, there are subtle differences that distinguish from their different roles. There's def lots of chemistry between the main leads (apparently the same main actors costar in Love Is Sweet haha). Tan Taijin's behavior after a certain point in the story really makes me guess what's real and what's just faking, but ig that's just good acting.
Music: I haven't really paid attention to the bg music, but I noticed when they went into the serpent's dreams the music changes esp in the underwater area. And it actually sounds water-y if that makes sense, which is super cool.
Rewatch value: Def worth a rewatch for the romance, although it is certainly a committment since each ep is the length of a short film, and some are more than an hour long. If I did rewatch it would probs be for the romance and costuming/makeup, but unlikely since a lot happens that I don't know if I want to go thru all that again.
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