Aya

This drama is definitely fittingly darker, both in terms of story and visuals than TBOY and DY. While I liked the story, it did have a bit of a repetitive aspect. I wasn't bothered by that too much, because it seemed logical that Dark River would encounter a lot of obstacles on their way to the other shore, but it did impact the pacing.

There are a lot of likable characters. Personally, Su Chang He and Su Zhe stole the show for me. The characters themselves were interesting, but the actors also did a very good job portraying the characters. Chang Hua Sen and Qiao Zhen Yu also had the strongest screen presence and caught my eye whenever either of them were on screen. In comparison Gong Jun doesn't have a very strong screen presence. Su Mu Yu is also a very straightforward character who could have benefited from a more charismatic actor. I'm not going to go as far as to say that he did a horrible job, but he did seem miscast. I liked Bai He Huai as a character, but the romance with Su Mu Yu seemed kind of unnecessary. On top of that, the two didn't share a shred of chemistry, so a lot of their scenes seemed boring rather than heartwarming. I did like the relationships between all the younger members of Dark River. They seemed more like an actual family than the old Dark River and understandably wanted to change the fate of their sect.

All in all, I did enjoy this drama. It's a nice addition to the existing stories.