Peya

Reviews r overly biased here, SoKP is much better than PoJ.
Not every ML char has to be written a prince on a white horse, some r actually shaped as a human being, with their flaws.

It won't be draggy, way better actionwise, than PoJ, ML is just WOW, but there r a few things abt it: FL has annoying double standards (just like here, so u might not mind), makes weird decisions sometimes, and villain is pretty obv. from the beginning. Many also had prob with his reasons, I get them, though. Overall a good watch.

A few I would recommend:
- Love Like the Galaxy S1&2
- Coroner's Diary
- Wonderland of Love
- Legend of the Female General
- Are You the One?
- Echoes of the Self
- How Dare You?! (the 1 with CL&WCR ofc)
- The Princess Royal
- Legend of Zang Hai
- Melody of Golden Age
- Fated Hearts
- Youthful Glory
Some has flaws, mostly storywise, or u have to suspend disbelief, but all of them have their charms.

Just a few, that pops into mind, that r way overhyped: Hidden Love (an ode to 2nd hand embarrassments, and the whole thing just felt off), Lovely Runner (terrible script, FL's might be the dumbest char written I've seen to this date), The Prisoner of Beauty (annoying FL, stupid choices).
Btw, I'm in the same boat with PoJ. Started it with high expectations, only to see them run around in circles in the village for half the series. I paused many times already. I don't usually complain about pacing, as long as the story moves forward, but here hardly anything new happened for half the series, only rinse-repeat.
And they almost lost me with that slap. I mean come on, she did the same before, but since it's the guy doing it, how dare he?! I'm so fed up with double standards by now. Doing sg, than expect the other to not do it, since he's a guy? Also, she decides everything abt their relationship, the guy should just nod, period. It's not empowerment, it's entitlement. I prefer equal treatment. And the guy apologized 2 or 3 times? When did she ever apologize for doing the same?
I'm a human of the female variety, I like ZLH as an actor, don't care about stupid articles, and I really wanted to like it, but I'm not sure I can stomach her entitlement any longer.

I like both ZYR and ZLH, among many, and I love nuanced acting.
Saying he can't act, based on the fact, that u didn't like him in GtG, is absolute bias. I like nuanced acting and he's gr8 at it. Yes, his facial expressions r not exaggerated, he can convey emotions with his eyes. It might make him a bad actor in your eyes, but it makes him an exceptional 1 in mine, esp. considering his age.
Whatever I watched with him (GtG, Reborn, TL), his acting is outstanding, detail-oriented. Not a 100% perfect ofc., there's no such thing as total perfection.

S/he shouldn't try. S/he obv. doesn't like ZYR, since he was one of the highlights of GtG. If s/he blames him 4 the not-so-perfect script, s/he is rabidly biased against him. No point in trying anything else.

Totally agree.

Np. I enjoyed it btw, good story.

32x30min, standard South-Korean length, just multiplied differently. U should give it a try and see.

I feel your pain. It took me a few tries to get through the beginning, too.
My ears and eyes were 'bleeding', even after reading up on it, knowing the reason 4 her childish behaviour, I just couldn't stand her cutesy-baby everything.
However, once I managed to get past it, this is really a great story, music, directing, acting... everything.

Now, stop 4 moment and think about it:
if I was this bothered, how come I could say, it was one of - if not THE - best fantasy I've ever watched in m life. ;)

Totally agree. If u managed to tolerate her voice in this - I feel your pain :D - LGIEF is another gem. Not perfect, but I loved it, and her char was really funny.

4 fantasy with 'dark' ML, I would recommend
- Moonlight Mystique
- Love You Seven Times
- Till the End of The Moon
- Fangs of Fortune
- Love Game in Eastern Fantasy
- Back from the Brink
- Hard to Find
- When Destiny Brings the Demon
If DFQC is dark, than they r, 2, but more like aloof+/badass+/bossy+witty sly foxes. However, just like with DFQC, once smitten, they mostly turn into jelous kittens. ;)

Well, I just love everything fantasy, so, if u don't mind, I can give u some titles from a bigger pool. Not all are perfect masterpieces, (also, Chinese censorship tends to ruin endings, continuity etc.) but these have sg about them, that many of us liked:
- Love You Seven Times (FL's voice and behaviour is similar to Orchid's at the beginning, but boy, does she change. One of my personal favs beside LBAFD, even though I can't stand that cutesy voice in either of them. :D )
- Moonlight Mystique
- Till the End of The Moon
- Back from the Brink
- Fangs of Fortune
- Who Rules the World
- Love Game in Eastern Fantasy
- Be Yourself (short length series, really entertaining, just has 1 giant plothole, so rooting 4 S2)
- Hard to Find
- Under the Power
Than, there r those, that many others liked, and also those, that I haven't gotten around to watch yet, but got stellar reviews:
- Joy of Life S1&2 (somehow i just can't get past the 1st few eps, but might be the highest rated Chinese fantasy series)
- I Am Nobody S1&2
- Nirvana in Fire S1&2
- Mysterious Lotus Casebook
- The Untamed (not 4 me)
- The Romance of Tiger and Rose
- Ashes of Love
- Love of the Divine Tree
- When Destiny Brings the Demon
- Immortal Samsara
- The Starry Love
- Ancient Love Poetry
- Love in the Clouds
- Shadow Love (Strictly if u can suspend disbelief and tolerate her voice, since FL was a total miscast, but ML can make up 4 it, and the story is pretty good, too. I tend to rewatch 4 details, but I couldn't with this1, even though it has CL! as ML.)
- Guardians of the Dafeng
- A Journey to Love
- Lost You Forever S1&2
- Love of Nirvana
These r mostly labeled wuxia. However, MDL doesn't have xianxia as genre, only in tag, even though, from what I know, these r 2 diff genres.
Since u r looking 4 sg similar to LBFAD, I highly recommend to start with the 1st 3 on my list, in that order.
Have fun!

Oh, thx, missed that1.
I remember when she told XY about the corpse pile, but the part where it's connected to her master...
Hmm, was it mentioned maybe, when he saved her from drowning? That part is a bit foggy, was half-asleep and haven't rewatched, but it might have been mentioned there. Guess I have to rewatch that now :)
Thx for the bookinfo in advance.

I pay much attention to details, that's why I love c-dramas. Just like with this1, the details saved the series for me, I really enjoyed it from beginning to end.

She only started to take off her mask, as she grew closer to XY. She didn't have a single person around, with whom she could be honest (her master being far away), thus we could only see her real self more in maybe the second half of the series, so I didn't mind it, as it was understandable.

Since you've read the novel, one question though, if you have the time: when and how did she meet her master? I can't recall any detail about it, and that's a hole I just can't fill with my imagination.

Well said. I watched SL for CL, no disappointment there, he was marvelous, but just to imagine the amount of arrows FL would have to carry to be actually able to use her bow in close combat, not to mention her shooting speed - enemy soldiers have to w8 in line to get shot.
She is not Legolas for sure. :D
And yes, my thoughts exactly, at least she should have been dubbed, it would have added a bit more credibility with the right voice.

The pacing, the acting, the fight scenes, the series as a whole is really good, forget about the reviews, give it a try. Not perfect, has it's flaws, mainly on the story side, but all in all it's worth the time.

Couldn't have said it better. Just ludicrous, not to mention her physique, her high voice that breaks mid-speech, the way she walks, as if she's on the catwalk, zero credibility as a general, but hey, SL is fantasy, anything goes I guess ;)

Finally, some1 else can see, what I see :)
So many complaints about her being bubbly, too bubbly, when it was obviously just an act. When she stood in front of her old sword, and XY came in, the way she 'put on' her smiling bubbly mask before turning around was so visible, I don't get how ppl missed it. And that was just one of the many. However, even if ppl couldn't notice, it was so unambiguous, she had to act all her life, ofc she wore a mask.

Don't move an inch than, you're at the right place ;)
His acting, fight scenes, his whole performance is stellar.