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I Really Wish This Had Just... Given Me More
Okay, so, in the grand scheme of c-dramas released this year, I actually didn't have high expectations of Love Beyond the Grave. I didn't have low expectations either, of course; I was kinda devoid of any kind of expectations. So when I started this drama I was actually pleasantly surprised, and then I got very excited, because the characters, the acting, and the set design are just stunning and absolutely fascinating. Dilraba, in particular, is the only person I have ever seen try to play a Tantai Jin style character and serve immaculate vibes as well, if not at times better, then our ultimate vibes server Luo Yunxi. And if there's one thing I learned from this drama its that I want Dilraba to play more demon lords because she is STUNNING and I am absolutely spellbound every time she is on screen.
The costumes in this drama were also fabulous and blew my mind in a way that only Fangs of Fortunes' costuming has done before (which makes sense, since Huang Wei was the costume designer for both, and always serves absolute looks in everything she designs for). I am less of a set design connoisseur, unfortunately, but I know enough to tell you that Love Beyond the Grave had some stunning ones, particularly in the first arc, I thought they did an amazing job doing the Southern snowy landscape in a way that still felt unique, despite it being a pretty typical c-drama setting (so shout out to Shao Chang Yong).
This drama's cinematography is also really lovely, and I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on Zoe Qin in the future, but I do think it peaks in the first arc. Which kinda leads into my general issue with this drama; it started really, very strong, and then kind of dissipated. I've been told, by my friends who finished this drama, that it picks up a little at the end, but I'm afraid I'm just not a very resilient media consumer. If a drama loses me, it loses me.
Though I said that I thought the cinematography did get less lovely after the first arc, I don't think that was an actual loss of quality, but that the director had less emotional story moments to film. What really made this drama lose my interest, in my opinion, was the story. For me, there wasn't much tension in the plot at all. Like, from after we find out who Duan Xu is, so a few episodes in, onwards. There's a certain character who I knew was going to betray Dilraba's character, and I was kinda waiting for that to happen out of, just, like, curiosity, but that was the extent to which the story gripped me. Not because I didn't like the ML or FL, I actually really like both those characters, but because I felt like the writers had written themselves into a corner almost immediately. To not spoil the drama too much, you kind of knew the male and female lead were going to get together. And the only real romance conflict was that one was immortal and one was mortal. And we see that conflict SO much in dramas, almost every cdrama watcher knows that it will end one of four ways:
1. the immortal leaves the mortal to live their lives
2. the immortal watches the mortal die
3. the mortal becomes immortal
4. the immortal becomes mortal
Kudos do go out to Love Beyond the Grave for doing pretty much all of them in some way or another. But it wasn't particularly interesting as a story, because you knew these things were going to happen.
Generally what makes an immortal/mortal love story interesting isn't the 'death' issue but other character conflicts which discuss the importance of mortality. Like the mortal caring about the world while the immortal doesn't, or the mortal dedicating their life to something the immortal doesn't see as important in the grander scheme of things. Or even just general character conflicts beyond their mortality/immortality. And I really thought Love Beyond the Grave was setting all of this up, but in a strange role reversal, with the FL being kind of depressed of immortal life and enjoying the simple pleasures of mortality while the ML was incredibly detached from mortality and obsessed with creating an immortal legacy. But then Love Beyond the Grave just... didn't do that. The characters never actually clashed over these ideals in a way that really felt like it might threaten their affection for one another.
My co-watcher blamed this on the 'puppy dog' effect. Or the fact that they made Arthur Chen's character way too green tea to actually clash with Dilraba over anything. And I honestly kind of agree. Duan Xu has a moment in the first arc where he goes a little crazy, and I saw this and thought: Oh! He can stand his ground against Demon Lord Dilraba! Amazing! There's gonna be tension here! And then he proceeded to follow Dilraba around like a puppy. Which, like, I get, I think I'd also worship Dilraba, but it didn't make a very good story.
TLDR; I came into this drama with no expectations. Got very high expectations and all excited for this drama. And then was promptly let down. I probably would've been less irritated at this drama if it hadn't gotten me so excited in the first arc. (Also, as a side note, Miles was amazing in this. But I'm a Miles stan so I'm bias.)
The costumes in this drama were also fabulous and blew my mind in a way that only Fangs of Fortunes' costuming has done before (which makes sense, since Huang Wei was the costume designer for both, and always serves absolute looks in everything she designs for). I am less of a set design connoisseur, unfortunately, but I know enough to tell you that Love Beyond the Grave had some stunning ones, particularly in the first arc, I thought they did an amazing job doing the Southern snowy landscape in a way that still felt unique, despite it being a pretty typical c-drama setting (so shout out to Shao Chang Yong).
This drama's cinematography is also really lovely, and I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on Zoe Qin in the future, but I do think it peaks in the first arc. Which kinda leads into my general issue with this drama; it started really, very strong, and then kind of dissipated. I've been told, by my friends who finished this drama, that it picks up a little at the end, but I'm afraid I'm just not a very resilient media consumer. If a drama loses me, it loses me.
Though I said that I thought the cinematography did get less lovely after the first arc, I don't think that was an actual loss of quality, but that the director had less emotional story moments to film. What really made this drama lose my interest, in my opinion, was the story. For me, there wasn't much tension in the plot at all. Like, from after we find out who Duan Xu is, so a few episodes in, onwards. There's a certain character who I knew was going to betray Dilraba's character, and I was kinda waiting for that to happen out of, just, like, curiosity, but that was the extent to which the story gripped me. Not because I didn't like the ML or FL, I actually really like both those characters, but because I felt like the writers had written themselves into a corner almost immediately. To not spoil the drama too much, you kind of knew the male and female lead were going to get together. And the only real romance conflict was that one was immortal and one was mortal. And we see that conflict SO much in dramas, almost every cdrama watcher knows that it will end one of four ways:
1. the immortal leaves the mortal to live their lives
2. the immortal watches the mortal die
3. the mortal becomes immortal
4. the immortal becomes mortal
Kudos do go out to Love Beyond the Grave for doing pretty much all of them in some way or another. But it wasn't particularly interesting as a story, because you knew these things were going to happen.
Generally what makes an immortal/mortal love story interesting isn't the 'death' issue but other character conflicts which discuss the importance of mortality. Like the mortal caring about the world while the immortal doesn't, or the mortal dedicating their life to something the immortal doesn't see as important in the grander scheme of things. Or even just general character conflicts beyond their mortality/immortality. And I really thought Love Beyond the Grave was setting all of this up, but in a strange role reversal, with the FL being kind of depressed of immortal life and enjoying the simple pleasures of mortality while the ML was incredibly detached from mortality and obsessed with creating an immortal legacy. But then Love Beyond the Grave just... didn't do that. The characters never actually clashed over these ideals in a way that really felt like it might threaten their affection for one another.
My co-watcher blamed this on the 'puppy dog' effect. Or the fact that they made Arthur Chen's character way too green tea to actually clash with Dilraba over anything. And I honestly kind of agree. Duan Xu has a moment in the first arc where he goes a little crazy, and I saw this and thought: Oh! He can stand his ground against Demon Lord Dilraba! Amazing! There's gonna be tension here! And then he proceeded to follow Dilraba around like a puppy. Which, like, I get, I think I'd also worship Dilraba, but it didn't make a very good story.
TLDR; I came into this drama with no expectations. Got very high expectations and all excited for this drama. And then was promptly let down. I probably would've been less irritated at this drama if it hadn't gotten me so excited in the first arc. (Also, as a side note, Miles was amazing in this. But I'm a Miles stan so I'm bias.)
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