Tomochi

At first, I couldn't understand why the ratings for this drama were so long. The story and plot were quite promising and it seemed like, production-wise, this drama was quite good.

But man, the last couple episodes completely derailed the entire storyline. It took the main plot and threw it in the trash. There was a lead-up to an epic showdown that never happened. I was genuinely shocked by how fast everything ended despite the build-up. Did they run out of budget???So many things were left unexplained (check spoilers). So many plot holes.

Later on, Xing Shen finds the old chronicles and pieces this information together with one of the other characters who appears to be on the spectrum. It seems like the fiends may have once been human but after consuming or having their DNA mixed with "Yuwang Meat" (which is from the soil of the mysterious Turquoise Land), these humans became something grotesque due to Yuwang Meat being a mix of DNA from various animals and beasts.

I think Lin Xirou has been trying to perfect the process of changing the fiends back to humans. The hunters suspect that her transformation was purely an accident, but the fiends have been trying to create more Yuwang Meat. They've been cultivating the Yuwang Meat by putting it in some type of vessel that they sunk in the water in the mines where Yan Tuo was locked inside (and where Lin Xirou first appeared after eating that one miner).

A lot of stuff was never fully explained though which is annoying. I believe they hinted at the Twilight Chasm which the Golden Gate leads to as the belly of Yuwang Meat.

No words on writers trying to whitewash Xia Jingyan and make us feel bad for him lol

They tried so hard to make him into some complex character with depth but the fact remains that he's a sociopath. He murdered countless innocents over the smallest things. (Remember how he ordered a maid's head to be cut off because Xia Jingshi refused to drink the wine she offered him? Remember how he went on killing sprees around the palace? Remember how he basically raped the wives of court officials? He specifically bedded the wives and not his own concubines/consorts (which his mother was upset at him for).

He imprinted onto Xiyang because no one around him loved him (I wonder why????) He wanted to toy with her when he saw how helpless and powerless she was. He wanted to push her buttons and watch her snap. She was fun to toy with because she still struggled against him and actively stood up to him. But if she pushed him enough, he would also snap. Let's not forget that when she snapped at him, he tried to choke her to "teach her a lesson."

His own mother and everyone around him believed that Xia Jingshi should've been the rightful emperor. (But of course his mother wouldn't hand over the throne to Xia Jingshi.) He toyed with Xiyang because she "belonged" to Xia Jingshi. He wanted to triumph over Xia Jingshi by "dominating" Xiyang. She was just caught in the crossfire :(

The writers tried to "redeem" him at the end when he groveled in front of Xia Jingshi, begging him not to kill Xiyang. Or trying to show how he's "soft" only for Xiyang. But I can't help but think, can someone as sociopathic as Xia Jingyan truly love someone? What if he only cared about the baby and not Xiyang? (Because the baby is *his* child, so he finally triumphed over Xia Jingshi and also "tamed" Xiyang.) Had they lived, would he truly have let her go back without a fight?

2) I swear Xiao Weiran must be gay for Xia Jingshi lmao. They never explained why he was so loyal to Xia Jingshi even at the cost of his best friend's life.

Xiao Weiran was best friends with Yi Xiao and Ning Fei way before Xiao Weiran came into the picture. Since they were all so young and orphans when they met, they were family to each other. Xiao Weiran even risked his life (along with Ning Fei) to steal sweet potatoes for Yi Xiao. They protected each other for YEARS. The death camp left Yi Xiao with major PTSD and she was even lied to about it being destroyed (which is why she became so protective of Xia Jingshi).

Since they were all stuck in the death camp and forced to fight to the death, how can Xiao Weiran still follow Xia Jingshi despite knowing that he was behind the death camp???

How can he sacrifice his own "sister's" life for some two-bit prince?

1) Murong father and son

I felt like the writing for Murong Yao and Murong Yao's father was super messy. They made Murong Yao out to be some evil mastermind, but toward the end, all I saw was this weak daddy's boy. Idk if it's because the actor just wasn't giving (sorry, Zuo Ye, I love you dearly but your acting still needs work ahhh) or if the writers didn't know how to characterize him when they were trying to move the plot forward.

My biggest turnoff was Murong Yao's father. I felt so bad for him. The writers tried so hard to reason that he became evil because he was left with "no choice." But here is my confusion:

I can understand why Murong Yao is so bitter toward Sui Ge (because of the traumatic childhood memory of that time when his father saved Sui Ge and left the two of them to fend for themselves). But Murong Yao's father was portrayed to be kindhearted, loyal, and selfless.

They showed these main examples: 1) Even after saving Sui Ge's life and being sent to the Northern border to suffer harsh winters (inspite of his injured, half-crippled leg), he remained staunchly loyal to the emperor. 2) Despite how unfairly he was treated, he still said that he remained in the North because if he left, no one else would step up to protect the borders. (He'd rather suffer than have poor innocents/civilians besieged by enemies.) 3) When his son rescued him, then murdered the old couple, he was aghast at his son's cruelty. 4) He did everything in his power to save his son's life, kowtowing all the way through the city and into the palace with thorns on his back (again with an old leg injury).

I felt like it was such a major disservice to Murong Yao's father for him to go down the route that he did. (Covering up the emperor's murder and then having Feng Sui Ge murdered.) I can understand that he snapped after holding everything in for so long and that his son is extremely important to him. However, I just can't see a character who was so staunchly loyal and self-sacrificing committing such heinous acts.

I have so much to rant about because I'm honestly kind of mad about how some characters were written :(

This drama was a disaster. Which sucks because I genuinely think Li Qin was MADE for this role. She played a pretty compelling general who excels at archery (even though there weren't as many fight scenes that fully showcased her strength).

The drama was soooooo slow. It was so painful and agonizing to get through the first 20-30 episodes. I honestly didn't care for the main characters all that much. Everything just dragged on forever, and then they tried to speed up certain things by glossing over parts of the plot. The only people I ended up liking were Xueying, Ning Fei and Lu Ke (one of the guards).

The writers need to get HELP. They need to be locked away in an insane asylum, I swear. Something is genuinely wrong with them. I don't even know how this drama even passed censorship in China.

The writers forced GOOD characters to become evil supervillains for the sake of driving the plot forward and to add "unexpected" plot twists. Straight up. They decided on the plot twists before writing the characters, I swear. Characters who were originally portrayed as moral and GOOD, later became evil. While the reasons for these changes are seemingly compelling, they are still inexcusable. It felt almost like the writers wanted us to feel bad for the characters that committed vile acts.

THEN, they took EVIL characters and tried to "whitewash" them. The main one being the "star-crossed lover" romance. They keep trying to add "depth" and "background" to these villains so that we, the audience, sympathize and feel bad for them. But let's not forget, most people who are truly good will not just randomly kill innocents. Only sociopaths will reason that they had "no choice" but to MURDER innocents for "survival". This type of whitewashing is extremely harmful, and I hope people truly reflect on the mixed messaging.

Xiyang finally gets her shet together and sees Xia Jingshi for the heartless piece of shet that he is. She wants to go home but she's now stuck because [spoiler]. She holds no power as a princess of the enemy country nor does she have anyone around to help her escape. (Dumb betch did this to herself when she helped Xia Jingshi escape. She didn't bring anyone with her since she eloped in secret.)

Xia Jingyan sees how helpless she is and reminds her of it. He points out how she's powerless and all alone, then seizes this opportunity to take advantage of her desperation. He hints at how she needs to give something to him exchange for his help, so... she sleeps with him.

Let's not forget that when Xia Jingyan was first introduced, it was stated that he would sleep with a bunch of his court officials' wives. One of the court officials even said that his wife committed suicide right after Xia Jingyan ordered her into his palace... literally not long before she gave birth, so the court official couldn't even celebrate his daughter's 3 month anniversary (or something like that).

Read next comment if you want spoilers regarding Xiyang.

Let's not forget how Xia Jingyan is a straight-up sociopath and did so many vile acts. (He randomly killed innocents and slept with the wives of many court officials.) He is, overall, a terrible emperor who doesn't care for anyone and will do whatever he wants. He has 0 redeeming qualities and is basically a big baby who didn't get enough love from his mother. To put it flatly, he's a mama's boy with mommy issues and uses that as an excuse for his psychopathic behavior. (He basically admits to this when he confronts his mother about her going behind his back.)

There is no excuse for ANYONE to do the things he did because mommy dearest didn't trust him enough. If anything, he should've worked harder to prove himself and his worth as an emperor. But nah, he blames everything on everyone but himself. He blames his mother for not loving him enough. He blames Xia Jingshi for gaining the trust of everyone and having more merit than him. He gave up on even being a half-decent person.

I will admit, though, that I did feel bad in his final moments because the writers tried to make them seem like star-crossed lovers. And I do think in some twisted way, he did "love" Xiyang, but I can't trust that it isn't anything more than an obsession. He latched on to her because of how pure and innocent she was. He grew more obsessed with her because she was the only one who was honest to him, and like he said, the only one who actually "relied" on him and "believed" in him. He took advantage of her desperation. That's not love. Maybe it seemed that way because the writers wanted to make him seem more "complex" but you can not excuse his behavior.

After ep 25 or so, she'll change.

Ahhh ok. Out of curiosity is the order: The Blood of Youth, Dashing Youth, then Blood River? Do you think it will matter if I watch The Blood of Youth before the sequel comes out? :') So many good shows to watch ahhhh

Do I need to watch Blood of Youth and Dashing Youth before watching Blood River? I haven't watched either show yet because I'm waiting for Blood of Youth Season 2 to come out first so I can just binge watch everything.

They got to the rooftop and tried getting search and rescue to send over a helicopter which wasted a lot of rescue time. But yeah, they should've tried calling 911 after search and rescue shut them down.

I just finished Rakshasa Street (2017) and Hero is Back feels more like a reboot with all new casting. It doesn't feel like a season 2 because the storyline doesn't follow the cliffhanger ending of Rakshasa Street (2017). Even the character backstories and personalities of the main characters are different. I'm only on episode 4 of Hero is Back btw. Differences are so drastic, it feels like a completely different storyline.

They took away a lot of the comedic aspects that seemed to poke fun at the drama itself in s1, so in some ways, s2 does feel more like a "proper" drama with a more serious tone. I honestly really liked the chill vibes of s1, so I'm a bit sad about these changes :( I'm gonna miss the little inner thought skits :(

In s1, Xia Ling (the main girl) is very headstrong, naive, ditzy, and gives off major "dumb blonde" but means well vibes. In s2, she isn't ditzy or naive, in fact, she feels more mature and capable. Even her spirit guardian Li Xuanyuan seems to have a completely different backstory and character design.

In s1, Cao Yan Bing (our main character) is a very meme guy who doesn't seem to take himself very seriously, acting all fake cool and sure of himself. But it is also clear that he is quite cunning and seems to have a better grasp of a situation than one might think. He isn't very trusting and always tells Xia Ling that she can't easily trust people and see the good in everyone (he's weathered by his past, especially his upbringing). In s2, Cao Yan Bing doesn't provide comedic relief and feels younger? (probably because the actors look diff) but a bit more stoic (probably cuz difference in acting?).

Edit: On episode 6, I think the character personalities are still pretty similar minus the comedic stuff because different directing and acting.

I just finished and I want to know what happens next. Does anyone know if this second season's plot and storyline follows the original donghua or novel? If so, which episode should I begin watching from to finish the story?

Unfortunately, things start to make sense more so toward the last couple episodes. But the plot twists there really had me shook.

Just keep watching. Once you hold out, you'll understand why she keeps coming back.

I just finished the drama and to answer your question, I think Heaven revived him.

Heaven said that "she" thought making Xing Yue heartless and emotionless was the strongest way to rid evil. However, after seeing the sacrifices of everyone (all the characters who died, including the sacrifice of Fan Yue as well as Bai Shuo who shot the final arrow), it generated the final, hidden contemplation which was "Great Love" that finally got rid of Mo Li once and for all.

Heaven's final words before Fan Yue's return were: "In this world, cause and effect, good and evil, will have their dues. For love, one can die, but can also be reborn. Those who have died for the great cause will eventually return through different means."

Literally couldn't have worded my thoughts any better!