This review may contain spoilers
A Show That Must Be Rated Highly, And Yet....
A surprisingly difficult show to rate.
The plot was incredibly interesting. To be honest I was expecting a very predictable plot, which can be expected when the Celestial, Demonic and Mortal realms are introduced. But this show had me genuinely wondering what would happen next and how the characters would handle their trials.
I will admit that this is a personal flaw on my part that I have zero interest in the various side characters introduced, as often times secondary couples fall flat in comparison and feel like a waste of screen time for me. For this show, I found myself wanting more attention on the side characters. Not necessarily for the sake of another romantic plot. In fact, I think it was a weakness of the show in its entirety to be focused so heavily on a romance when the main couple's relationship was extremely toxic. But i wanted more on the characters because the plot line of the story, being focused on the coming apocalypse and the Demon Lord being the incarnation of evil in the world- I needed the show to lean into that. To lean into a world that needs better people working to create change, rather than be a part of the system that encourages evil to exist. For a brief moment, when Tantai Jin "accepted" his fate as the Demon Lord, he acknowledged his role as a sort of Karma. The writers had many moments like this, when I felt that a show centered on humanity and the roles of ascended immortals to keep evil at bay would've been most ideal. Li Susu, as an immortal the went down to the Mortal Realm, back in time to stop the Demon Lord- this felt like the perfect setting. A character who has seen a great evil destroy her world and her loved ones and now she must care for him and show him the good in the world and bring him round, ultimately to his death but for the good of the world. A very, very intriguing plot that I think should've and could've leaned into Li Susu's anger towards the Demon Lord softening into forgiveness. In a way, this happens. But not as it should've. Instead, we see Li Susu's anger towards the Demon Lord being taken out on Tantai Jin, a victim of abuse from the moment he was born, and we as the audience are supposed to support this romance? The reins of Li Susu's anger should've been pulled back. There is a boundary that Enemies-to-Lovers plot points cross, and it is when one of the characters is an abuser. I am not against these dark relationships being depicted. In fact, it suited the show and the tragedy of Tantai Jin's character. He is supposed to live a life full of sin and hardship, die a tragic death, and bring about the end of the world. It fits that he would even in his moments of affections actually be in a terrible situation. But the show insists on displaying the main couple as truly, genuinely romantic. It falls flat.
When it comes to other moments with side characters that made me want even more of this larger cast, bigger picture narrative, was with Ye Xiwu's brother, General Ye Qing Yu, who ended up becoming the King of Jing after Tantai Jin's "death".
His whole story is very interesting, as he takes on the mantel and weight of his whole family simple because his father is too lazy to, and then takes up the throne in place of Tantai Jin, despite his own grief and his own weariness with the world. A character that in contrast to Tantai Jin's imperfect attempts and being good and Xiao Lin's flawless perfection, is more human than all of them. Wanting to uphold his morals and be a good man, but not in a perfect way. He betrays his family by having a relationship with a fox demon despite holding his family to high standards as the leader, and then betrays his own country because of his king's paranoia and disregard for his men, siding with the enemy even if it meant his family would perish. His whole story and character was so cool to me and I wished for more of it. Again, I was not against the romance that he got with the fox demon who was a cool and interesting character as well. But it feels at times that a forefronted romance takes too much screen time away from the development and depth of a character and story. And in the end, we see that the fox demon dies. She was a character I was not too interested in, and I knew that she was going to perish. It's hard to skillfully kill off characters, and even shows as good as this struggle with that.
Another side character that gave a glimpse into further depth in the show, was the Demon Lord's henchman Siyang. She was a bit of a contradiction, and I wanted her character to be more fleshed out than a mere plot device. In a conversation with Tantai Jin, she explains that her relationship with the Demon Lord is like that of a father and a daughter, and we see that the Demon Lord is not totally evil. It was a glimpse into something more. Yet, Siyang's behavior beforehand around Tantai Jin was very flirty, and ultimately when the Demon Lord possessed Li Susu's father, Siyang was killed by the one she claimed was like a father. Before her death and in her conversation with Tantai Jin, he called her out saying she was using a good, natural connection of the world, that is, a father and daughter relationship with the Demon Lord, to excuse her actions and her hatred for the world. This little segment and Siyang's character had me wanting more. More of the Demon Lord than simply being wrapped up as evil and wanting to destroy the world because that is what evil does. Depth, writers. The depth was there but where did they take it?
Ultimately, I got a lot from the show. But it is what the writer's hinted at, but didn't delve into. Tantai Jin's character is wonderfully done, in fact all the characters are. But there is more with the plot that should've been, in my opinion, fleshed out. Though the finished product is excellent, is still worth watching and the rewatch value is high.
Finally, one of my biggest issues with any show is the ending. Am I picky or is the Art of an Ending some Master-Level ability, because I am so rarely satisfied. It could've only ended with Tantai Jin's death, as it wouldn't have made any sense for him to survive after it being impossible for him to do so as the Demon Lord. But did I shed tears? No. How can I shed tears for a romance that is awful? Should I feel bad for Li Susu? How did she get a daughter and godhood at the end of this story, when she did nothing but make everything harder? Also, forget death. Don't give me a cheap ending with Tantai Jin's spirit living on in the Heart Scale, when that doesn't even make sense.
P.S. This is but a tiny detail that really in the grand scheme of things isn't THAT important, but for a character that had to yell a lot (due to the insane number of times he was tortured) Lou Yun Xi's yell was rather weak. He didn't sound like he was being possessed by a demon. I know this is a weird critique to make, but if you're going to yell that many times I need you to have some grit and desperation in your voice. There was one moment when he was being attacked by the Immortals because they found out who he really was, and he sounded briefly out of breath and a little raspy. That was the right sort of sound considering all he'd been through. Weird detail, I know. But if you're gonna yell that many times. Again. Sound like you've at least been kicked, much less been stabbed by your wife on your third wedding night. Just a thought.
P.S.S. I didn't noticed the music at all, which means it wasn't that great. Until my boy Lui Yu Ning showed up. So the unnoticeable music gets five stars just because he showed up to sing.
The plot was incredibly interesting. To be honest I was expecting a very predictable plot, which can be expected when the Celestial, Demonic and Mortal realms are introduced. But this show had me genuinely wondering what would happen next and how the characters would handle their trials.
I will admit that this is a personal flaw on my part that I have zero interest in the various side characters introduced, as often times secondary couples fall flat in comparison and feel like a waste of screen time for me. For this show, I found myself wanting more attention on the side characters. Not necessarily for the sake of another romantic plot. In fact, I think it was a weakness of the show in its entirety to be focused so heavily on a romance when the main couple's relationship was extremely toxic. But i wanted more on the characters because the plot line of the story, being focused on the coming apocalypse and the Demon Lord being the incarnation of evil in the world- I needed the show to lean into that. To lean into a world that needs better people working to create change, rather than be a part of the system that encourages evil to exist. For a brief moment, when Tantai Jin "accepted" his fate as the Demon Lord, he acknowledged his role as a sort of Karma. The writers had many moments like this, when I felt that a show centered on humanity and the roles of ascended immortals to keep evil at bay would've been most ideal. Li Susu, as an immortal the went down to the Mortal Realm, back in time to stop the Demon Lord- this felt like the perfect setting. A character who has seen a great evil destroy her world and her loved ones and now she must care for him and show him the good in the world and bring him round, ultimately to his death but for the good of the world. A very, very intriguing plot that I think should've and could've leaned into Li Susu's anger towards the Demon Lord softening into forgiveness. In a way, this happens. But not as it should've. Instead, we see Li Susu's anger towards the Demon Lord being taken out on Tantai Jin, a victim of abuse from the moment he was born, and we as the audience are supposed to support this romance? The reins of Li Susu's anger should've been pulled back. There is a boundary that Enemies-to-Lovers plot points cross, and it is when one of the characters is an abuser. I am not against these dark relationships being depicted. In fact, it suited the show and the tragedy of Tantai Jin's character. He is supposed to live a life full of sin and hardship, die a tragic death, and bring about the end of the world. It fits that he would even in his moments of affections actually be in a terrible situation. But the show insists on displaying the main couple as truly, genuinely romantic. It falls flat.
When it comes to other moments with side characters that made me want even more of this larger cast, bigger picture narrative, was with Ye Xiwu's brother, General Ye Qing Yu, who ended up becoming the King of Jing after Tantai Jin's "death".
His whole story is very interesting, as he takes on the mantel and weight of his whole family simple because his father is too lazy to, and then takes up the throne in place of Tantai Jin, despite his own grief and his own weariness with the world. A character that in contrast to Tantai Jin's imperfect attempts and being good and Xiao Lin's flawless perfection, is more human than all of them. Wanting to uphold his morals and be a good man, but not in a perfect way. He betrays his family by having a relationship with a fox demon despite holding his family to high standards as the leader, and then betrays his own country because of his king's paranoia and disregard for his men, siding with the enemy even if it meant his family would perish. His whole story and character was so cool to me and I wished for more of it. Again, I was not against the romance that he got with the fox demon who was a cool and interesting character as well. But it feels at times that a forefronted romance takes too much screen time away from the development and depth of a character and story. And in the end, we see that the fox demon dies. She was a character I was not too interested in, and I knew that she was going to perish. It's hard to skillfully kill off characters, and even shows as good as this struggle with that.
Another side character that gave a glimpse into further depth in the show, was the Demon Lord's henchman Siyang. She was a bit of a contradiction, and I wanted her character to be more fleshed out than a mere plot device. In a conversation with Tantai Jin, she explains that her relationship with the Demon Lord is like that of a father and a daughter, and we see that the Demon Lord is not totally evil. It was a glimpse into something more. Yet, Siyang's behavior beforehand around Tantai Jin was very flirty, and ultimately when the Demon Lord possessed Li Susu's father, Siyang was killed by the one she claimed was like a father. Before her death and in her conversation with Tantai Jin, he called her out saying she was using a good, natural connection of the world, that is, a father and daughter relationship with the Demon Lord, to excuse her actions and her hatred for the world. This little segment and Siyang's character had me wanting more. More of the Demon Lord than simply being wrapped up as evil and wanting to destroy the world because that is what evil does. Depth, writers. The depth was there but where did they take it?
Ultimately, I got a lot from the show. But it is what the writer's hinted at, but didn't delve into. Tantai Jin's character is wonderfully done, in fact all the characters are. But there is more with the plot that should've been, in my opinion, fleshed out. Though the finished product is excellent, is still worth watching and the rewatch value is high.
Finally, one of my biggest issues with any show is the ending. Am I picky or is the Art of an Ending some Master-Level ability, because I am so rarely satisfied. It could've only ended with Tantai Jin's death, as it wouldn't have made any sense for him to survive after it being impossible for him to do so as the Demon Lord. But did I shed tears? No. How can I shed tears for a romance that is awful? Should I feel bad for Li Susu? How did she get a daughter and godhood at the end of this story, when she did nothing but make everything harder? Also, forget death. Don't give me a cheap ending with Tantai Jin's spirit living on in the Heart Scale, when that doesn't even make sense.
P.S. This is but a tiny detail that really in the grand scheme of things isn't THAT important, but for a character that had to yell a lot (due to the insane number of times he was tortured) Lou Yun Xi's yell was rather weak. He didn't sound like he was being possessed by a demon. I know this is a weird critique to make, but if you're going to yell that many times I need you to have some grit and desperation in your voice. There was one moment when he was being attacked by the Immortals because they found out who he really was, and he sounded briefly out of breath and a little raspy. That was the right sort of sound considering all he'd been through. Weird detail, I know. But if you're gonna yell that many times. Again. Sound like you've at least been kicked, much less been stabbed by your wife on your third wedding night. Just a thought.
P.S.S. I didn't noticed the music at all, which means it wasn't that great. Until my boy Lui Yu Ning showed up. So the unnoticeable music gets five stars just because he showed up to sing.
Was this review helpful to you?
