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Not a bad drama, but the love stories felt unconvincing
Look, this is a fantasy, not reality. In a world where people have magical powers, it's a bit silly to complain that the love story felt unrealistic and unconvincing. Whilst I agree in this context everything is possible and the writers weren't being irrational, I'll argue they could have told a more compelling story.
They show you the leads are in love with each other, but they don't take you along the journey of developing that feeling. It's just there out of the blue? I'm happy for them, but I still don't feel emotionally invested myself.
Let me give you an example using a different story. Showing you someone crying because they lost their father may make you feel sorry for them, but showing you clips of the same person being raised by a loving family, being helped by their father when struggling financially, then getting into an argument with him, deciding to apologize, rushing to a hospital trying to make it before it's too late... This will make you feel their emotions and develop a deeper connection to the story. And that's what's lacking here.
They do take us along a journey full of moments and behaviors that could have made them fall for each other. But they're already in love before this even starts. So this journey just works as a way of showing us how much this couple is willing to sacrifice for each other. But how did we get to this point? How did that person become so precious to you you're willing to risk so much?
The writers seemed to be laser focused on making us empathize with the side characters and their stories, so that we'd be intensely impacted by those characters' decisions - I'd even argue it was overdone. But then they forgot to use the same strategy to the main couple.
We're also told Fan Yue is a very powerful demon lord, but we don't get to see how powerful he supposedly is. He does show his powers but in situations that don't demonstrate what the writers want us to believe. Again, they tell us but they do not show us.
On the positive side: the visual effects are great for the most part, the costumes and sets are beautiful, good acting, the FL is a strong woman with her own agenda.
They show you the leads are in love with each other, but they don't take you along the journey of developing that feeling. It's just there out of the blue? I'm happy for them, but I still don't feel emotionally invested myself.
Let me give you an example using a different story. Showing you someone crying because they lost their father may make you feel sorry for them, but showing you clips of the same person being raised by a loving family, being helped by their father when struggling financially, then getting into an argument with him, deciding to apologize, rushing to a hospital trying to make it before it's too late... This will make you feel their emotions and develop a deeper connection to the story. And that's what's lacking here.
They do take us along a journey full of moments and behaviors that could have made them fall for each other. But they're already in love before this even starts. So this journey just works as a way of showing us how much this couple is willing to sacrifice for each other. But how did we get to this point? How did that person become so precious to you you're willing to risk so much?
The writers seemed to be laser focused on making us empathize with the side characters and their stories, so that we'd be intensely impacted by those characters' decisions - I'd even argue it was overdone. But then they forgot to use the same strategy to the main couple.
We're also told Fan Yue is a very powerful demon lord, but we don't get to see how powerful he supposedly is. He does show his powers but in situations that don't demonstrate what the writers want us to believe. Again, they tell us but they do not show us.
On the positive side: the visual effects are great for the most part, the costumes and sets are beautiful, good acting, the FL is a strong woman with her own agenda.
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