This review may contain spoilers
doomed romance masterpiece
God I just don't know where to begin with this. Probably about to be a long and slightly scatter-brained review.
I wish the show had the budget it deserved so it could have more episodes and the plot would be given more time to breathe because everything happened so insanely fast, but the story behind this is so solid. Xiao Shuhe and Duan Zi'ang became friends as children but circumstances separated them shortly after they formed their bond. They meet again years later after Duan Zi'ang has been manipulated by an assassin organization to be their weapon against Xiao Shuhe's family and he's given the mission to kill Xiao Shuhe's brother, Xiao Shuqian. Then begins a game of manipulation. Xiao Shuhe realizes Duan Zi'ang is the assassin who tried to kill his brother almost immediately but due to the fact of their shared history and a plot of his own to ensnare the palace official who has corrupted his brother, Xiao Shuhe allows Duan Zi'ang to stay in his residence. As the two of them spend time together, they start to fall deeply in love and decide to abandon their revenge plans, and as Xiao Shuhe's relationship with his brother becomes more and more strained and his life comes under threat, the two of them can no longer deny these feelings. Then Duan Zi'ang makes a choice to save Xiao Shuhe's life -- an action that Xiao Shuhe had previously warned him would be unforgiveable if he took it -- that shatters their romance. While there's resentment and anger and hurt between them, the love never went away. Duan Zi'ang desperately tries to cling to the past, becoming a monster that even rivals Xiao Shuqian, while Xiao Shuhe becomes a shadow of his former self as he's lost everything he held dear due to that one action Duan Zi'ang took.
MAJOR props to Zhang Zhexu and Mi Jin for the way they portrayed these characters. There are so many moments in the second half of the show that basically left me breathless because of their talent in bringing this story to life. I can't even begin to imagine how grueling it must have been to perform some of those downright devastating scenes. And we also have to give huuuuuuuuge props to Li Yixiang, who portrayed the beloved Shen Song in his first time acting and is also one of the script writers who gave us this beautiful show.
Also as a lover of horny media, I have to say the first half of this show is one of the most erotically charged pieces of media I've ever seen. The sexual tension was insane every time Xiao Shuhe and Duan Zi'ang interacted prior to their first kiss, and while that energy was less frequent in the second half due to the circumstances of their situation after Duan Zi'ang's "betrayal," there are multiple moments where the sexual tension is still palpable, even when Xiao Shuhe has every reason to hate Duan Zi'ang. I feel the need to discuss the sensuality of this show because I feel like A LOT of erotic media tends to include scenes of dubious consent or straight up non-con and depicting it in an erotic way [stares at Revenged Love and Desire]. So any media that has an erotic atmosphere but doesn't try to gaslight me into finding assault desireable is already revolutionary in my book. In addition to that, there is also a beautiful scene of a wedding ceremony which just the visual of that alone is revolutionary and it means so much to me as a lesbian to be reminded that we have always existed.
I do have a few gripes with the show though so I can't give it a full 10/10 - the fact that the only women in this entire show are unnamed maids who show up for a couple minutes and a Ji Bei princess who is given a name but doesn't even get the chance to speak; the abuse apologia of trying to make Xiao Shuqian seem less bad when he gives Huo Ying the antidote to the poison when he's dying, as if that makes up for the fact that he poisoned Huo Ying in the first place or how horrifically Xiao Shuqian treated him for the previous 7 episodes (or how abusive he was to Xiao Shuhe!); some plotlines feeling very incomplete (Gu Yuanshan never has to face justice for his responsibility in getting multiple people close to Duan Zi'ang and Xiao Shuhe killed and he just fully disappears after Xiao Shuqian dies, Duan Huaiyi's very odd behavior and the fact that his reunion with Duan Zi'ang happened through the assassin organization which seemed to be setting him up as an antagonist for Duan Zi'ang but it just goes nowhere); the (very likely) AI usage in episode 9 given the very limited budget the show had; and honestly the final scene felt like pure wish fulfillment as it contradicts the scene that came just before it. But overall what a beautiful and epic tragedy. Xiao Shuhe I love you sooooo much.
I wish the show had the budget it deserved so it could have more episodes and the plot would be given more time to breathe because everything happened so insanely fast, but the story behind this is so solid. Xiao Shuhe and Duan Zi'ang became friends as children but circumstances separated them shortly after they formed their bond. They meet again years later after Duan Zi'ang has been manipulated by an assassin organization to be their weapon against Xiao Shuhe's family and he's given the mission to kill Xiao Shuhe's brother, Xiao Shuqian. Then begins a game of manipulation. Xiao Shuhe realizes Duan Zi'ang is the assassin who tried to kill his brother almost immediately but due to the fact of their shared history and a plot of his own to ensnare the palace official who has corrupted his brother, Xiao Shuhe allows Duan Zi'ang to stay in his residence. As the two of them spend time together, they start to fall deeply in love and decide to abandon their revenge plans, and as Xiao Shuhe's relationship with his brother becomes more and more strained and his life comes under threat, the two of them can no longer deny these feelings. Then Duan Zi'ang makes a choice to save Xiao Shuhe's life -- an action that Xiao Shuhe had previously warned him would be unforgiveable if he took it -- that shatters their romance. While there's resentment and anger and hurt between them, the love never went away. Duan Zi'ang desperately tries to cling to the past, becoming a monster that even rivals Xiao Shuqian, while Xiao Shuhe becomes a shadow of his former self as he's lost everything he held dear due to that one action Duan Zi'ang took.
MAJOR props to Zhang Zhexu and Mi Jin for the way they portrayed these characters. There are so many moments in the second half of the show that basically left me breathless because of their talent in bringing this story to life. I can't even begin to imagine how grueling it must have been to perform some of those downright devastating scenes. And we also have to give huuuuuuuuge props to Li Yixiang, who portrayed the beloved Shen Song in his first time acting and is also one of the script writers who gave us this beautiful show.
Also as a lover of horny media, I have to say the first half of this show is one of the most erotically charged pieces of media I've ever seen. The sexual tension was insane every time Xiao Shuhe and Duan Zi'ang interacted prior to their first kiss, and while that energy was less frequent in the second half due to the circumstances of their situation after Duan Zi'ang's "betrayal," there are multiple moments where the sexual tension is still palpable, even when Xiao Shuhe has every reason to hate Duan Zi'ang. I feel the need to discuss the sensuality of this show because I feel like A LOT of erotic media tends to include scenes of dubious consent or straight up non-con and depicting it in an erotic way [stares at Revenged Love and Desire]. So any media that has an erotic atmosphere but doesn't try to gaslight me into finding assault desireable is already revolutionary in my book. In addition to that, there is also a beautiful scene of a wedding ceremony which just the visual of that alone is revolutionary and it means so much to me as a lesbian to be reminded that we have always existed.
I do have a few gripes with the show though so I can't give it a full 10/10 - the fact that the only women in this entire show are unnamed maids who show up for a couple minutes and a Ji Bei princess who is given a name but doesn't even get the chance to speak; the abuse apologia of trying to make Xiao Shuqian seem less bad when he gives Huo Ying the antidote to the poison when he's dying, as if that makes up for the fact that he poisoned Huo Ying in the first place or how horrifically Xiao Shuqian treated him for the previous 7 episodes (or how abusive he was to Xiao Shuhe!); some plotlines feeling very incomplete (Gu Yuanshan never has to face justice for his responsibility in getting multiple people close to Duan Zi'ang and Xiao Shuhe killed and he just fully disappears after Xiao Shuqian dies, Duan Huaiyi's very odd behavior and the fact that his reunion with Duan Zi'ang happened through the assassin organization which seemed to be setting him up as an antagonist for Duan Zi'ang but it just goes nowhere); the (very likely) AI usage in episode 9 given the very limited budget the show had; and honestly the final scene felt like pure wish fulfillment as it contradicts the scene that came just before it. But overall what a beautiful and epic tragedy. Xiao Shuhe I love you sooooo much.
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