I'm at ep 23 where there's supposed to be major tension/rescues happening, but the writing/direction/pacing is…
this was my take, too. Also, I kept wanting it to be exposed that the fiends were originally human and that these "new fiends" were a reversion trajectory. So, figuring out how to help them, without the need to endanger others would have been the righteous thing to do. The hunters are so monochromatic and feel so disconnected from the rest of human society. Meanwhile, the fiends are running a pharmaceutical company. While, yes, they are using that as a front to figure out their own survival - and not always in ethical ways - they are also supporting an orphanage and making cutting edge medicine. Plenty of humans harm other humans and pursue unethical business practices, so what makes these "villains" so villainous that their species isn't allowed to survive?
At this point, more people like Ms. Lin as opposed to Xing Shen. At least, she’s kind of fair and honorable…
he's also small-minded, driven by jealousy, where she has a vision for her kind is devoted to that big picture. she seems to really care for her people. where he seems detached from his.
Imo, FL doesn't look stupid at all. She seems to be quite capable: experienced in travelling and trade, she is…
I am watching thinking, "finally, a c-drama with a capable and sensible FL, who falls for a man but isn't clingy and doesn't have her whole sense of self wrapped up in that."
I mean, did we see her wield a bow and arrow from horseback in a battle scene?
Are there ways in which she's "childish"? Not in any way that would be unexpected, given that she's young and was raised by a pack of men.
The story is centered around a person who goes from being exiled to becoming a magnate. As long as the side characters don't annoy me, I don't care about them. Here, I actually like the potential romantic interest character, which is so unusual.
At ep 23. Have been thoroughly enjoying this. but, they lose me with really twisted logic of why she won't just ask him for the medicine she needs. "I don't want him to have to choose." Being able to choose is called having agency. She'd rather hurt him profoundly than let him make his own choice? It's better for him to hate her than to break a promise to a dead person? So, now, he's grieving and likely to become more cynical than ever. The cat sacrifices himself to buy her a few more days.
I have a hard time empathizing with her loss and, likely, will just not care about her character going forward. She opted for sowing hatred rather than partnership. wtf?
why do I feel like he's an actor who is going to have some breakthrough role in his early 40s? Some amazing script will finally come his way. I think he has a range we just haven't been given the opportunity to see, yet.
the old guy that works for the CP's household is a poorly written character.
He's been in the palace for decades and he still flies into a frenzy any time anything happens; and behaves like a nag constantly. Absolutely zero adaptation to the context of the palace and the person he serving? Seems very unrealistic.
Ok, this is about royals. But why is "Nirvana" in the title?
This is just relentless misery.
Also, a very sado-masochistic relationship. Why would anyone want to be in relationship with the CP? He is ferociously suspicious of everyone. He's cruel - having her tortured or tormented, at times, when he knew she was innocent, and finding it entertaining. His affection can't be trusted, as he turns on a dime.
And why would he ever trust her. She is river rapids of lies. It's always a different update about who she is or what she's up to. Just f*cking tell him the truth and get it over with. She seems glutton for punishment. I get that because her father and brother were executed, she's afraid to reveal her actual name. But, she could have vaguebooked an explanation, as she finally does sometime after episode 40 (my father was a convicted minister. I entered the palace trying to save him.) That could have been said about 25 episodes earlier.
the acting is good. and, if you like tragedy, it's an active volcano of it, spewing one deadly misunderstanding after another.
Don't even get me started on the sadistic father/emperor. wtaf?
I read your comment before and i am on the ep 23 whe he gets marriedThe Li yin tong emotions are very intense…
right? it has to leave her feeling somewhat disposable. that's why I can't figure out why she'd remain devoted to protecting him. especially in that way, where she has to endure that unimaginable level of heartbreak.
And that supervisor who forces her to witness the consummation. How cruel.
This was a fantastic, if hard to watch (because it's a harsh world), story. Even though I had myself tensed up, knowing that bad things were going to happen, I still kept watching, because it's so well done.
whoa. it is so heavy. I'm in ep26 and its so hard to watch her having to witness him loving someone else. (I will say that he switched romantic gears quite speedily. I guess soul mates abound.) I'm not quite sure why she is putting herself through this.
The acting was good throughout. The leads had wonderful chemistry whether it was a seriously dramatic or comedic scene. I'm not familiar with the FL, so it was a good introduction to her. I liked Chen Feiyou in Ever Night, then found Lighter and Princes to be unwatchable (not because of him.) Here, though, I have a greater appreciation for his acting. He managed a lot of nuance here. Looking foward to seeing more of his work.
The story had good continuity, with no major logic fails. It did feel like it dragged a bit in the demon and human realm arcs. I know these stories like to go through the 3 realms cycle, but perhaps they could have gotten through them more quickly? Luckily, I had crocheting to do while watching.
In the demon arc, the clingy "you saved me once, so I must be your destined partner" characters was just awful. I hate those arcs in general, but as they go, this one was particularly lame. The author really couldn't come up with a better way to drive the story?
In the human arc, I found it hard to believe that the supposedly savvy politician who has spent many years building his plan to take over the throne was so easily fooled. Sure, this person who wants you to bring them children to kill will be a trustworthy partner in your shady political play. Anyone would fall for that! It made this part of the story lackluster. It was anticlimactic when they finally trapped the villain.
Was also never convinced of the romance between the Nangjiu and Ruling. He was infatuated because she helped him, but it never felt to me that she had any real feelings for him. It didn't matter, though, as nothing in the story hinged on it, so I could just let it go.
One major writing critique I have: stop having people agree to be honest/open with each and then repeatedly not be. It degrades the relationship and it gets boring as a device. The final one in this was so horrible. Her excuse for not treating him like a partner who deserves to be making informed decisions was so that he could have pleasant memories?! wtf?
Still, with all these flaws, I enjoyed it. My only big question is: what was the message of the story? Was there one? Or was it simply a warm/fuzzy romance? Which is fine. It can be that. They portrayed it quite well.
Lastly, Sima Jiao is, perhaps, the most green flag male character ever. He suffers, but doesn't translate that into psychopathy. He connects and he learns and he never veers from his trust and admiration of those he loves. His ability to be sweetly amused after enduring 500 years of imprisonment and torture is, frankly, beyond amazement. It's nice to see a character who isn't written as "suffering = psychologically malevolent." I'm grateful to the author for that.
Are you kidding me? Ep 1-4 literally had me zzzzz falling asleep half way thru each episode. It's only from 5…
I was actually enjoying the low-key nature of it. And that it wasn't so melodramatic. It definitely builds to more action and I'm enjoying that as, well.
Up to 17, now. I don't know. A lot of this is falling flat for me. So much is formulaic. And then, this king just blithely ordering one of sons to cut out the heart of his other son and them both acting as if this is totally normal. I think I'll come back to this later.
K-Drama 
and our villains just seem like a species trying to survive. it's kind of a strange story.
The hunters are so monochromatic and feel so disconnected from the rest of human society. Meanwhile, the fiends are running a pharmaceutical company. While, yes, they are using that as a front to figure out their own survival - and not always in ethical ways - they are also supporting an orphanage and making cutting edge medicine. Plenty of humans harm other humans and pursue unethical business practices, so what makes these "villains" so villainous that their species isn't allowed to survive?
I mean, did we see her wield a bow and arrow from horseback in a battle scene?
Are there ways in which she's "childish"? Not in any way that would be unexpected, given that she's young and was raised by a pack of men.
The story is centered around a person who goes from being exiled to becoming a magnate. As long as the side characters don't annoy me, I don't care about them. Here, I actually like the potential romantic interest character, which is so unusual.
I have a hard time empathizing with her loss and, likely, will just not care about her character going forward. She opted for sowing hatred rather than partnership. wtf?
Who are these "enemies"? Why are they attacking? What does the uncle have to do with it?
In the convo between ML and the uncle what does he mean, "You shouldn't...."? And what does the uncle mean, "So, you should?"?
What the hell is even going on?
He's been in the palace for decades and he still flies into a frenzy any time anything happens; and behaves like a nag constantly. Absolutely zero adaptation to the context of the palace and the person he serving? Seems very unrealistic.
This is just relentless misery.
Also, a very sado-masochistic relationship. Why would anyone want to be in relationship with the CP? He is ferociously suspicious of everyone. He's cruel - having her tortured or tormented, at times, when he knew she was innocent, and finding it entertaining. His affection can't be trusted, as he turns on a dime.
And why would he ever trust her. She is river rapids of lies. It's always a different update about who she is or what she's up to. Just f*cking tell him the truth and get it over with. She seems glutton for punishment. I get that because her father and brother were executed, she's afraid to reveal her actual name. But, she could have vaguebooked an explanation, as she finally does sometime after episode 40 (my father was a convicted minister. I entered the palace trying to save him.) That could have been said about 25 episodes earlier.
the acting is good. and, if you like tragedy, it's an active volcano of it, spewing one deadly misunderstanding after another.
Don't even get me started on the sadistic father/emperor. wtaf?
Do we ever get an understanding of why the emperor is such an a-hole to the CP? Is he really just a sadistic creep? Why treat anyone this way?
And that supervisor who forces her to witness the consummation. How cruel.
whoa. it is so heavy. I'm in ep26 and its so hard to watch her having to witness him loving someone else. (I will say that he switched romantic gears quite speedily. I guess soul mates abound.) I'm not quite sure why she is putting herself through this.
The acting was good throughout. The leads had wonderful chemistry whether it was a seriously dramatic or comedic scene. I'm not familiar with the FL, so it was a good introduction to her. I liked Chen Feiyou in Ever Night, then found Lighter and Princes to be unwatchable (not because of him.) Here, though, I have a greater appreciation for his acting. He managed a lot of nuance here. Looking foward to seeing more of his work.
The story had good continuity, with no major logic fails. It did feel like it dragged a bit in the demon and human realm arcs. I know these stories like to go through the 3 realms cycle, but perhaps they could have gotten through them more quickly? Luckily, I had crocheting to do while watching.
In the demon arc, the clingy "you saved me once, so I must be your destined partner" characters was just awful. I hate those arcs in general, but as they go, this one was particularly lame. The author really couldn't come up with a better way to drive the story?
In the human arc, I found it hard to believe that the supposedly savvy politician who has spent many years building his plan to take over the throne was so easily fooled. Sure, this person who wants you to bring them children to kill will be a trustworthy partner in your shady political play. Anyone would fall for that! It made this part of the story lackluster. It was anticlimactic when they finally trapped the villain.
Was also never convinced of the romance between the Nangjiu and Ruling. He was infatuated because she helped him, but it never felt to me that she had any real feelings for him. It didn't matter, though, as nothing in the story hinged on it, so I could just let it go.
One major writing critique I have: stop having people agree to be honest/open with each and then repeatedly not be. It degrades the relationship and it gets boring as a device. The final one in this was so horrible. Her excuse for not treating him like a partner who deserves to be making informed decisions was so that he could have pleasant memories?! wtf?
Still, with all these flaws, I enjoyed it. My only big question is: what was the message of the story? Was there one? Or was it simply a warm/fuzzy romance? Which is fine. It can be that. They portrayed it quite well.
Lastly, Sima Jiao is, perhaps, the most green flag male character ever. He suffers, but doesn't translate that into psychopathy. He connects and he learns and he never veers from his trust and admiration of those he loves. His ability to be sweetly amused after enduring 500 years of imprisonment and torture is, frankly, beyond amazement. It's nice to see a character who isn't written as "suffering = psychologically malevolent." I'm grateful to the author for that.