Selfless and Selfish Love
Helian Xi’s last memory before dying had been his wife stabbing him in the heart. Somehow he came back to life to see his whole Liangchuan clan attacked by Yangzhou, his wife Princess Feng Yuan from Yangzhou is believed to be one of the culprits. Because he had pledged to safeguard the safety of his people with his blood, the clan was saved by sealing them in a divine tree in Lingchuan. Once sealed, the tree died and only with the return of the twinned branch in ML and FL’s possession can the tree be revived and the clansmen restored to life. ML went on rampage in Yangzhou palace for revenge and to find his wife so he could take back her twinned branch but unfortunately she was nowhere to be found. Fast forward 3 years later, the Crown Prince of Shouyun was supposed to wed his sweetheart Liangchan, but she was attacked before the wedding. The masked men had wanted to end her life but was intervened by ML. He discovered that Liangchan looks exactly like his wife. He kidnapped her but found out Liangchan had no memories about her past life prior to 3 years ago. ML made an agreement with Crown Prince to let Liangchan regain her memories before doing anything. But when she started to remember, things turn out to be very different from what ML had remembered it to be.I can say this show probably has a quite high budget. The pictures, the props, the actors, the edits are actually pretty impressive for a miniseries. At least it surpassed my expectation. The actors are very talented and able to portray their characters convincingly well. ML and FL’s expressions are on point and can really deliver. They looked good together too, i can feel the spark even when ML was supposed to hate FL before he knew what really happened. The conflicted and longing look of his was very convincing, that I-really-wanna-kill-you-but-I-love-you kind of look. The plot is engaging and amazingly did not have much plotholes expected from miniseries. The songs are great though. So nice and didnt sound cheap and copied at all.
Gotta to warn readers this story is very dark, gloomy and sad. A beautiful story, but not for those who can’t handle sappy drama.
SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE____________
The only thing that ticks me is the ending. FL’s ending is pretty much expected, i dont really have a problem with that, but for the ML i think they really botched it. How come a leader of a tribe who also has a daughter in tow could make that decision? It looked stupid and selfish, unbecoming of the ML’s character as a leader who treasures his clan in the beginning of the show. As i dont believe in suicides in the name of love, i deem it stupid, weak and selfish, awfully disrespectful to FL’s sacrifice. At least hers was made for the whole clan and cant be considered suicide cuz am pretty sure FL would really want to live if she could survive the twinned branch extraction. While a real man and leader wouldnt have made that decision that ML did. What, just because the main villain died and the clan is back to life, now he can abandon them to their devices, disregarding their future? He didnt even appoint a proper leader to succeed him! Awfully disappointing so am taking 1 and a half star for that. Good thing is at least the side couple came through.
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Bluffing your way to Survival & Victory
In the first season, this special talent of ML, Zichuan Xiu, did not come into light much, but when he was stranded in Yuanzhou after feigning loyalty to North Clan just to seek revenge, ending up getting branded as traitor by the kingdom he served and criminal by the enemy, this uncanny talent of his became the major highlight of the show - bluffing and acting his way out of hurdles and coming out as the victor. With his batallion being hunted down as they too was branded as traitors as they failed to report back to camp when they decided to wait for ML for regroup, they resolved to becoming bandits before reuniting with the severely injured ML after his narrow escape from North Clan capital. No where to go, no one to turn to, ML had to lead his men to survive in the desolate land of Yuanzhou, fighting off North Clan and hiding from Zichuan, and along their path, they somehow reunited Yuanzhou under a free banner. This was their amazing journey.Honestly I don’t get the low rating cuz I seriously think season 2 is waaaaaaaay better and more engaging than season 1. There’s more action and more screentime of ML and his troops, and less of the political struggle in Zichuan capital, navigated by his 2 sworn brothers Di Lin and Si Yilin. S2 has a wholesome intro for those who did not watch S1, which i think they shouldve done for S1 as well. I feel that S1 had been rather messy with so many question marks (which can be seen as plotholes) that are only answered in S2. We finally know how and why ML was exiled to Yuanzhou at 13yo too. Initially I thought he was framed for something that he didn’t do, but it turned out he did do it, Yang Minghua only twisted everything to be against ML’s favour and turn it into his crime instead. That political bastard had wanted to take the 13yo boy’s life, but failed because Ning and the revered great general Ge Yinxing pleaded for him.
I especially love his love-hate relationship with his deputy Baichuan, most notable dialogue of hers is, “My Lord, after so many years with you, I’m truly reluctant to part from you. But at the thought that you’re finally going to be someone else’s trouble, I am somewhat relieved,” Omg 🤣 these two are my favourite characters indeed. Although Baichuan is the most serious character in his troops, she is definitely loyal and able to play out good acting to carry out ML’s strategies against the enemy while he was absent. I really had fun seeing her trying to reign in ML and keep up with his antics.
Zichuan Ning grew a lot in this season. From the childish, naiive, spoilt young lady, she emerged to be quite resourceful as she finally steps into the clan’s political scene. Baby steps, but impressive nonetheless, compared to how her character was framed in S1. I hated her interactions with Ma Wei though. Fastforwarded most of their scenes. But I’m glad she stayed true to ML.
S2 is where Liufeng Shuang finally makes an appearance. A young female general of Ning’s peer, she was like a version of ML but with Baichuan’s countenance. She was very quickwitted and intelligent, it’s like she was made to spar with ML intellectually. It didn’t take long for her to figure out ML’s identity both in Zichuan and Yuanzhou. Honestly i feel she would make a great 4th xiongmei in the young generals brotherhood.
Although the ending wasnt as cliffhanger as S1’s, i still think they should make S3. This Zichuan novel sounds so exciting, especially when ML’s true origin hasn’t been disclosed at this point of the adaptation, it’s just too bad I couldn’t find an english translation of the novel. It’s gonna be hard to move on from. But the ending is truly not bad even if there never will be S3. There were many loose ends, considering they didnt finish adapting the whole novel, but acceptable still with lots of room to continue from if they ever decided to pick it up again.
The songs really stuck in my head. Dangit i need to search them on youtube and add to my playlist!
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Brothers for Life.
Zichuan Xiu is one of the 3 great generals of Zichuan known as Flower of Xichuan due to his mischievousnous and cunning. He is aided by his 3 loyal subordinates, Lou Jie, Lu Ming and Baichuan. Some time in his teenagehood, he was accused for something not diclosed, hence exiled to Yuanzhou, where made his name as a promising commander, though much to Zichuan clan’s leader disdain, Zichuan Canxing due to disapproval of ML’s close relationship with his niece and heir of the clan, Zichuan Ning. Xiu batallion had just scored big victory in a battle against North Clan, and he was called back to the Capital in the name of receiving reward, but in reality to eliminate him as potential threat. Facing the impending rebellion planned by Yang Minghua the minister of war, ML with the help of his 2 sworn brothers Dilin and Si Yilin made their move to counter this and later North Clan’s invasion of Yuanzhou.ML always shows a mischievous and reckless front, but everything he does usually has an outcome he desires. This smoke screen of having people see him as incompetent, reckless fool actually made his hidden enemies let their guard down that in turn makes it easy for ML to outmaneouvre them. His methods are unconventional, giving off the idea that he was fooling around and doing shady business that always get misunderstood by his deputy commander Baichuan, ending up getting reprimanded and questioned by Baichuan the moment she felt that he was straying off their main course. Although ML looked like a loose cannon and nobody really takes him seriously other than his sworn brothers and his childhood sweetheart Zichuan Ning, he is actually very intelligent and meticulous leader who knows how to manipulate, strategize and make use of the people around him to serve his purpose. On top of it, he has a clear conscience with a genuinely good heart, and isnt as ruthless and cruel as Dilin, so he never actually manipulate people in a bad way to make them in the losing end. His manipulation actually brings the better side of these people instead.
As for his sworn brothers, the other 2 of the 3 great generals of Zichuan are Di Lin, the ruthless Executioner of the Battlefield, and Si Yilin, a very honest and upright man who knows only Black and White and nothing in the middle.
Zichuan Ning is ML’s love interest, they grew up together as ML was adopted by Ning’s father at a very young age. But because of ML’s dubious background, he never felt he was good enough for Ning, especially when the clan leader disapproves of their relationship. Ning is a very sheltered young lady who has never known any hardship at all. She was raised to become the next leader of the clan, hence her future husband should be of similar status, which sidelines ML. She is spoilt by both her uncle, and ML. It is rare that I come to like a character as dense and childish as Ning, but somehow her rash antics of always chasing after ML is entertaining and understandable even. I never likes this type of cutesy, bratty, rash, weak female character, but somehow i felt her character is hard to hate especially when she treats Princess Ka Dan with sincerity. I somehow ship her relationship with ML, but I have a feeling they might not end up together. It’s frustrating that I can’t find the novel’s translation.
My favourite character is Baichuan, a very straight forward and honest young woman, she is like the one who keeps ML in check. I feel that she is like a protective big sister looking out for a little brother who always gets in trouble every chance he’s let out into the world. She would not put up with his nonsense antics but would always be the one to help him whenever he is in a tight spot.
The flow of the story is rather slow paced as political struggle is a major part of the plot, so i don’t mind doing things in between episodes, unlike other engaging shows that makes it hard for me to put down the phone. The ambience is kinda broody-gloomy like My Journey to You. The action is nice to watch though, and the relationship between ML and his sworn brothers and his 3 deputies are really fun to watch.
The songs are rather nice and kinda lingers in my head too. They made a good job in that department. The costumes are nice, not too showy and dangly. Overall its a good show and quite memorable.
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My stomach cramped from laughing too much
FL is Song Xiaoyu in a modern world, who landed a job as main actress in a costume tv series A Dream of QingNing. She was reading the script at home when she fell asleep and woke up in the story, as the main lead character she was supposed to play - Song Yimeng. She was bewildered that this character would eventually become paralyzed after a failed jumping off the tower suicide, so she tried hard to alter the course of storyline by not acting out the written plot, which was her falling in love with the male lead 7th Prince Nan Heng who would later cheat on her with her sister Song Yiting which drove her to the failed suicide and the killing of her whole Song clan by ML. Things did not turn out as she had wanted because she keeps getting killed and reset again each time she try to deviate. And there starts the adventure of her unwillingly cross paths with ML, finding out that they’re stuck with the script rule “ML will always save the FL”, sparking a long super exhausting story of laughter-and-anger-inducing misunderstandings while carrying out the written plotline in the process.I have never seen an ML so misunderstood as 7th Prince, Nan Heng. His father hates him, his uncle used him, his brother fears him, the common people detests him, and the one he loves avoids him like a plague with pure prejudice. Such a tortured soul who had been suffering since a little boy just because his father decided to marry his mom for political balance and later hated his guts just because he was his mom’s son. It’s a wonder he could grow into the good-natured man that he is, although he hides this good side of him pretty well to protect himself, ruthlessly fighting the enemies at the border which how he earned himself the all-feared title God of Death. He took so many punishments on behalf of the people he cherished, and none actually thanked him for it or even mention it to others. It’s so frustrating how badly ML is treated in the first 3/4 of the show. However, although my general description of the ML sound like the typical roles Liu Yuning took up - broken, hurt, fierce, lovestruck - it is actually a new role I saw him in as he constantly become the source of laughter in the comedic scenes. It really puts some new perspective of him for me.
Cant stand the FL. She is annoying, selfish, stupid and reckless. The first few episodes was fun, but when she keeps on being prejudiced towards ML despite all the obvious proof against it, i just cant stand this character. It’s a blessing that she had an extremely intelligent and quick-witted younger sister Song Yiting who often knocks some senses into that pea-brain of hers. FL often gaslights ML and is so mean towards him for 3/4 parts of the show. She acts all hurt when ML didnt reveal all his strategies and tricks to overcome the enemy, and yet she herself never really come clean on why she keeps pushing ML away with all those unexplained quirks she displays. It’s frustrating to see her hurting ML over and over again just because of a mere script. I get that she is afraid of the script coming true, but cant she be kinder to him ? She had zero confidence in ML in that 3/4 of the show before ML proved to her that he could help her divert the iconic scene she feared so much to happen. It also irks me that ML keeps chasing after her despite her cruel attitude towards him. I just cant ship them. If not for the ML i wouldve dropped this long ago. I have no grudge against the actress, she is astonishingly beautiful with amazing acting skills, its just too bad this character is so poorly written that it makes it really hard for me to tolerate her.
The sweetest, purest soul goes to 18th Prince NanRui, the supposedly Crown Prince who acts like a spoilt child. Although he was at odds with ML in the earlier episodes, and I quite hated him then, but it was clear this was due to his insecurity and gullibleness. This character is also consistent throughout the show, although he eventually realized he had laid his loyalty in the wrong man, his sincerity, kindness and compassion stays strong all the way to the end. He was so loving towards the SML, Chu Guihong who he considered as his true blood brother instead of a cousin and ready to concede the crown prince title to beg th Emperor and ML to spare SML’s life after the attempted assassination, and when ML disclosed the secret about the script world, the first thing he blurted out was how painful ML must have been in to have died twice during the resets. And instead of worrying about getting himself injured or killed as ML laid out the plan to save the emperor, this Nan Rui was instead anxious about ML getting killed while luring SML’s troops away. Such a compassionate soul. It’s hard to really hate this character even when he was in cahoots with SML in the earlier parts. And his pairing with his bodyguard Ji Xiang is the cutest. One a blabbermouth with a kind heart, while the other a stone with no facial expression and even lesser spoken words, except display of immense loyalty towards his master.
As for the SML, Chu Guihong, he had the most character transformation of all although in a negative way. From the pure and innocent SML who acts only as ML’s love rival, he became a full fledged villain who is blinded by pure obsession to overcome ML using any means necessary. It’s really sad cuz their friendship had been beautiful in the beginning and I was hoping they would reconcile and SML stayed being a good person.
By the way, what kind of bastard of a father suspects a 9yo child of his to lead assassins to kill the wife? Like seriously? Any other sane adult would first suspect the rest of adult in the entourage. Why the hell was the blame pinned on the ML, Nan Heng, right off the bat? I cant fathom how this stupid emperor’s brain works. Blaming a 9yo for killing the empress using assassins? For real? You blamed the child for 19 long years and never really figured out any loophole in the investigation? 🙄
I have trouble handling the emotional rollercoaster the show thrusts into its audience. One minute the father is at his son’s throat (literally) and made the audience feel so angry at the father and pity the son, and the next scene was of the son running to attend to his collapsed mom, who actually fiegned sickness to trap her son and future bride in a room so they would sleep together (in a comedic way). What the frick 😂😂😂 one minute i was so angry and feel ML’s heartbreak for his bastard father’s action, and the next i was literally laughing my arse off at the trapping scene. And that is just one of many comedic scenes in the show. And they didnt look forced or slapstick at all like most comedy shows I’ve seen. I was in a restaurant one time and cant stop myself from laughing like a banshee that i had to put down the phone to continue watching at home else people might think i’m crazy. The show had so many references to other costume drama such as A Journey to Love and Love like the Galaxy, even having the themesongs of these series played in that scene even. Imagine how much cramp my stomach had to sustain? 😂 each time ML was forced to take the hits as he tried to kill the FL to figure out if he had been under her spell was hillarious as F. I had to pause the playback so my laughter would subside first, else I’d miss the next scenes.
Although the plot kinda slowed down and mellowed around 30 episodes, gradually look absurd when the screenwriter also went into the world to fix the storyline, it picked up its pace again in the last 3 episodes when they went to fight against the script. The ending, although rather draggy with after-climax scenes, is apt and fitting, brilliant even that explains the series title. It’s a happy ending btw so you guys who avoids tragic endings can watch with ease.
I liked the songs and bgm in this show. Especially the cowboy-like wild west background music during comedic scenes 😆
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Bloody Throne that Haunts.
Kang Chul was a serpent diety who was thrown back down to earth during his ascension to the heaven to become a Dragon because a human baby saw his ascension. Due to this, he loathed humankind and created mayhem in the world, cited in legends as an evil diety. Fast forward 100 years later, come Yeo Ri, granddaughter of a powerful shaman who inherited her grandmother’s shamanism talents. Kang Chul caught sight of her and went to pester her, as becoming the guardian spirit of a great shaman would help him ascend to heaven. When Yeo Ri then told her grandmom about him during one of her purging rituals, the townspeople began to label her as the jinx who had attracted an evil diety, hence she was blamed for her loved ones dying around her and any misfortunes that befell the town. Left to fend for herself at a young age after her grandmother was killed during a ritual which she was convinced orchestrated by Kang Chul, she came to resent the diety in her entirety. 13 years later, Yeo Ri now makes a living as spectacle maker, while far in the capital the royal family got riddled with spirit possession. Royal Scribe Yoon Gap, the only friend and first love of Yeo Ri, remembered about her and thus went to fetch her in pretense of becoming the king’s glasses maker. On the way to the capital, Yoon Gap was killed and Kang Chul decided to possess the body so he could latch on Yeo Ri. When Yeo Ri realized Yoon Gap had been possessed by Kang Chul, a fight ensued and both fell down a cliff, but fate had a better plan for them as both ended up in the palace upon rescue. And there starts their journey around palace conspiracy and intrigue which would unfold the real reason behind the possession of the king’s son.I am not really a fan of Khorror cuz i find all the jumping and dancing ritual very disturbing and ridiculous, but because I’ve read so many positive review about it, so here I am. I can’t say I hate this show, but can’t really say I love it either. The storyline is okay, but somehow I really dont like this Kang Chul guy. I liked Yoon Gap, but Kang Chul really gets on my nerves even though both had the same face. Although I like his banter with the king, i really am not crazy about his personality as a whole. Something about his bearing just irks me. And i can’t feel the spark between him and Yeo Ri when they ‘supposedly’ realized that they liked each other. Urghh. The idea just didnt come through. I basically fast forwarded all their romantic scenes after that.
Yeo Ri is typically straightfoward, naive girl who longed for companion after years of being alone, so she jumped right up when Yoon Gap invited her to the capital. She was determined to save Yoon Gap’s soul and would stop at nothing to ensure the people she care about is safe. She lacked proper planning and strategy though, it’s like she bulldozed her way through disregarding possible risks that couldve improved the outcomes had she mitigated it. Urgh since i got here right after watching cunning and scheming FLs in Blossom, Queen Woo, Prisoner of Beauty and Qingchuan’s Veil of Vengeance, i really felt Yeo Ri lacks so much and wouldnt have survived the palace intrigues had not for the serpent diety next to her.
I really love the king and the queen though, and was looking forward to see their romantic scenes more than main leads’. The king and queen’s chemistry is so striking, i can really feel how deep their love for each other is. The King is probably the star of the show for me, he is righteous, selfless, down to earth and good, a far cry from the usual selfish, domineering and power hungry king/emperor on screen. And with the queen being so kind, gentle and demure, and strikingly beautiful, they made a perfect pair. I love it when they came up on screen. And I teared up when the queen fell victim to the eight-legged spirit, and then when the king sincerely seek for forgiveness from the vengeful spirits for what his ancestors had done 100 years before. The actor playing the king is so dang good, he could really pull off playing two different characters. I could feel his remorse as a king who uncovered the family’s skeleton, and i could also feel his resentment and fury when he was possessed by the spirit. And he is so dang handsome too 😭 hey why am i talking about this side couple more than the main leads? 😆😂 i failed to feel anything when mishaps happen to the main couple, thats how ‘meh’ i feel their relationship is.
I can say that I only stayed to the end because of the royal couple and the mystery behind eight-legged spirit. Take out these two, i wouldve dropped this so fast.
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Palace Struggle of a Warrior Queen
Usually I have a problem with tv shows that are too long with draggy unnecessary sideplots and scenes thrown in senselessly, this time I feel that this tv show needs more episodes to really give proper narrative and adequate closure to the audience.Basically it’s about the historical Queen Woo’s struggle to manoeuvre against palace conspiracy right after the King dies out of the blue due to poisoning. The show spans about 24-36hours but with up to 28years of flashbacks that reveals the background of each key characters especially the couple the King and Queen. Queen Woo was born to a tribe in the North, was raised like a boy with military and martial prowess, aspired to be a great general, but ended up sacrificing for the tribe to be wedded off to one of the kingdom’s princes guarding the border with no chance for the throne. The original bride had been her sister, Woo Soon, but she was adamant on marrying the Crown Prince (she wanted to be the Queen so badly) and would rather die if she couldnt. So to avoid the tribe from rejecting the marriage decree, Woo Hee stepped up and volunteered to wed and live in the treacherous North border with the second prince, Go Nammoo. Much to their surprise, before the King died, the second Prince was appointed as the successor instead of the Crown Prince due to his military might and merit, for the late King entrusted for the second prince to repossess the land conquered by Han. When the second prince (now King) died after being poisoned, thereforth starts the Queen’s struggle to maintain her late husband’s reign legacy and to fight for her own survival. At the same time, the palace’s ministers struggle to find the real culprit behind the King’s demise.
The FL, Queen Woo Hee was the perfect Warrior Queen who is both intelligent and profound in military & political strategy, and possess significant physical and martial prowess, enough to fend for herself and others around her. During the less than 24 hours chase to select the King’s successor among her brother-in-laws by marrying them, she showed how a leader should decide and act during emergency, and upon her return with future King, showed how a general should lead her troops in facing the crown prince’s and the third prince’s rebellion. FL was resolute, firm and brave. She doesnt second guess herself, and most importantly she trusted her subordinates enough to lay her life for them. A true warrior queen.
The ML, i consider Eulpaso as the ML although not paired with FL romantically, is a key figure during her reign. She spends most time with this Prime Minister than her own husband since the King is frequently away for war all year round, this the Prime Minister had become her confidant, discussing military/political strategy with each other and guessing the King’s move on the battlefield, while playing huge-axx chess. As the Queen ventures out to acquire the successor right after the King died, ML held the fort in the palace as he tread the dangerous waters of palace intrigue to find the one behind the King’s assassination. He also became the Queen’s lifeline when the Queen was about to be caught up by assassins sent by the Third Prince.
The SML, the King, who looked messy and haggard in the first episode as he was shown to fight the Hans for years, i almost couldnt recognize the actor Ji Chang Wook, turned to be so dang smashing when he finally trims the beard and dons the dragon robe once he finally returns to the palace. Too bad it turned out that palace conspiracy proves to be much more fatal than the heinous battlefield he grew up in. No sword, spear or arrow could take his life, but a mere cup of wine did when he finally returns to the comfort of his own palace. The King died right in Episode 1, though he made a comeback in later episodes as numerous flashbacks detailing his origin and rise to the throne. And although he loved his wife so very dearly, he knew his responsibility to the kingdom outweighs everything else. He even gave the Queen a vial of poison, telling her to either kill herself or the enemy with it if there comes a time she is in danger/held hostage
, because he would never waver and give up the throne for her life. It was cruel, but that is just how the monarchs had to live their lives, as pawns to power. Just like how the Queen didnt take much time to decide to marry one of her brother-in-laws upon her husband’s death to ensure her survival and to ensure her control over the kingdom her late husband had painstakingly built.
Being a show with only 24 hours span, the writers made sure there is enough action to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The Queen’s carriage chase by assassins sent by numerous tribes and prince was epic and it showed how formidable the Queen is as a fighter. The chase for the King’s poisoning case is pretty much engaging too, with riddles to whom it really was. At one point i even suspected the Queen because she was about to get deposed due to ministers’ pressure, but they never revealed who it really had been even towards the end. What a bummer.
The ending is anticlimax too because they ended it right after she yelled for the gates of the fortress to open, as she leads the troops to clash with the rebels, just like her late husband wouldve done. Although they did slide in snippets of the Queen’s victory, it was just too short and not quite satisfying. We the audience needs moreee! Historically Queen Woo reigned for more than 40 years as Queen and Queen Dowager, couldn’t they extend the episode up to the new King’s enthronement? 😭 it’s such a bummer!
The rating coould’ve been higher had they made a proper plot with satisfying ending, maybe up to 12-14 episodes instead of just 8. 😒
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Lovebirds that are not meant to Grow Old Together
I was contemplating to start on this one because Wu Jinyan's character in The Double didn't give me much of a good impression, but eventually decided to get on with it anyway because the novel was good. It is basically about the assassin FL whose mission was to kill the ML, solely driven by the urge to avenge her parents because ML had been the general fighting off kingdom's enemy in her hometown Qingzhou which later burnt down, killing her parents in it. Little did she know, it turned out he was the one who called for the assassination of himself to frame the evil Crown Prince as he was trying to avenge his army who died in Qingzhou after being framed of burning down the whole town. ML lived for 10 years carrying this guilt and labelled as "The General who Killed All". When FL realized ML wasn't the one who burnt down her hometown and killed her parents, she shifted her objective somewhere else - the real culprit - which of course aligns with ML's own objective so they ended up becoming partners instead of enemies. So they kinda worked together to bring down the Crown Prince, as of course fell in love with each other in the process.Honestly, the first 2/3 of the story was definitely good despite it being totally different from the novel, all the power struggle shows how brilliant the ML, Murong Jinghe, and how resilient the FL, Mei Lin is. However, after 24 episodes of engaging plot, it took a total nosedive from there on. With the Crown Prince out of the picture, the story became bland with just inner struggle of the feelings of each FL, ML and SML. From a ruthless, brilliant strategist, ML became a lovesick puppy who spent his free time lamenting his awful luck in love. The show lost its appeal right there and then, it became a pure drag to finish each episode, and I kept ff those boring flashbacks of each main leads and SML.
Who do they wanna fool by having the FL hide from ML and SML in the very town ML governs, bordering the SML’s kingdom, in her own hometown which everyone, even the villains know, walking around freely only donning a sheer veil that is so see-through she should've just ditched it already? 😑 at least in the novel she hid in a secluded rural village so far away that it took ML 1 year to find.
I don't know why cdrama is obsessed with having lengthy episodes. When i read the novel, it only had 24 chapters so i thought even if the production had expanded on side plots it wouldnt have exceeded 25-30 episode. But danggg it turned out to be 32 episodes, complete with so many unnecessary side stories and draggy plots. Even with the expanded plot they did, it shouldve concluded within 25 episodes. All those hours wasted, gosh. The whole expansion on Princess Zigu’s character was one of the draggiest and totally unnecessary, the fast forward button really had to work hard for me. That little side plot with Wei guy from Laowuzi with A’Jia was also too forced and detached, totally unnecessary at all.
And all those torment of ML by FL would've been more satisfying to watch had the ML was the novel Murong Jinghe who kept denying his feelings for FL, emotionally tormenting her while indulging Lou Mei, instead of the lovesick TV Murong Jinghe who had done so much sacrificing for FL until the end. For the tv, it would've been satisfying if the ML had died and left FL heartbroken and forlorn for the remainder of her short life.
However dissatisfied I am with the last 10 episodes, I had to admit the show is indeed rather good with amazing cinematography. Definitely didn't look cheap. The ML and FL did a phenomenal job and their chemistry went right off the chart. This is the first show I saw the actor for ML, and his performance was superb even the screenplay made the characters out to be inconsistent and confusing. The most confusing character is definitely the SML, Yue Qin. I don’t even want to elaborate on him, he is a dodgy little fella right from the start, one point going his all to capture FL’s heart, the next so eager to send her off to Qingzhou, then he wants her back again just to send her off again? What the hell? 🥴 Although, the Yue Qin in the novel had only been 15yo, met FL during the hunt, owed her his life and went to be the sweet little brother she doted on that ML somehow grown to be jealous of. 😝 But anyway, the actors truly rocked their characters really well.
The kissing scene is rather good too! Both worked on them really well unlike most wooden lips stuck together like most cdrama i saw. So far only Prisoner of Beauty and Kill Me Love Me manage to pull this off.
Anyway, the song’s tune kinda got stuck in my head so I’ll give an 8 for that.
The ending is kinda appropriate although not quite the happy ending as written in the novel. I wouldnt say it was a sad ending at all. However, i would still prefer the ending in the novel. So those of you who are not satisfied with the tv ending, go read the novel to quench yourself!
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One of the Best!
I have been putting off this title for soo long cuz I didnt quite like Zhao Lusi in The Long Ballad and I didnt think she would make a good main lead. But she definitely proved me wrong in Love Like the Galaxy. I must admit that this show stands almost at par with The Untamed and The Rebel Princess which are in my top favourite list, and her performance here was spectacular.The show opened up with 15yo Cheng Shaoshang - FL - finally reunited with her parents who had left her in her grandmother’s care since birth to go for war. On the way home from where her grandmother made her stay, she met with our ML the 21yo great young general Ling Buyi on the hunt for a criminal, which turned out to be FL’s grand uncle (grandma’s bro). She showed him where she suspected the man to be hiding, which was in a strawpile in front of the small hut she lived in. This is where FL caught ML’s eye. It was like love at first sight, though he had only seen her hand at that time.
When she thought her life would be better now that her parents are home, it turned out to be even worse when her tiger soldier mom could not accept the daughter that she turned out to be - illiterate, brash, full of trickery with a loose mouth of rebuttal. The mom tried to make up for those years she lost of raising and educating FL, but it made FL hate her even more due to the harsh educating method. The mom also openly favoured FL’s cousin who was well-read, gentle, and compassionate. As FL traverse her new life with a full family that she couldn’t seem to fit in, she learned to grow into a mature young lady under the wings of the empress when ML asked the emperor for her hand. ML was the last descendent of the Huo clan, which the emperor was hugely indebted to, thus had ML raised by the Empress. With FL, he too traversed his life to avenge the extermination of his clan while at the same time fighting for the woman whom he loved.
I totally totally love love love this show. I love how they are more focussed on the familial affection than romance between the main leads. Although FL had a hard time bonding with her mom, she was on an extremely good terms with her dad, her 2 brothers (1 was actually her twin), and the demure cousin. There was no sibling rivalry at all despite their 15 year-estrangement, which i totally love. Am so tired of sibling fights, bickering and getting jealous at each other all day long. Its non existence in the Cheng Household is totally heartwarming. The only tension would only come from the mom-daughter banter as FL keep stirring up trouble whenever she got criticized by her mom and bullied by other girls outside.
I totally get the FL character. Imagine the emptiness in her heart, she was abandoned as a baby by her family and left in the care of those who doesn’t love her at all. She grew up having to rely on her own self without the ability to love other people. And even when her family returned, she still found herself drowning with her mom’s constant criticisms and complaints of her shortcomings. She was drowning and eager to grab a life line, something that her parents should have provided but failed to do so, and that was why she was quick to accept her first bethrothal and then ML’s, thinking that it was her ticket to freedom.
Although I am not a fan of damsel-in-distress type of character, which the FL is, i totally love her guts. She has no physical prowess, with a body so frail that she would faint at extreme sadness or agitation, but her wit, intelligence and stubborness make up for that. Despite her gentle look, FL is extremely quick-witted, relentless and unyielding. She has no problem talking back to others with a sharp tongue in her defense, against whoever it may be. Her mom failed to appreciate her strengths, but the Empress did, and it is understandable that FL quickly allevated her as a mother figure. I was super satisfied when FL decided to stay with the Empress in isolation, leaving her home without much qualm. Back then, her mom had left her for the loyalty to the emperor, and now when she bade farewell, she said she too chose loyalty to the empress over filial piety. What a great “in your face” moment though FL had not meant it to be a revenge. I loved FL mom’s character because she is a tiger mom like me, but it is still so satisfying to see her take her own medicine. I can’t forgive her for favouring Yangyang and keep denouncing FL in public over and over again.
Leo Wu had proven his talent in The Long Ballad, so I totally know he’d definitely be able to pull off the fierce general look, and a love stricken lover. ML is basically hell bent on taking a revenge on his clan’s extermination, and is ruthless in seeking out the truth. Him being most favoured person of the emperor made him almost untouchable. Although he was busy investigating, he realized he could not miss out a chance at romance too. And so when FL’s first bethrothal was rescinded, he immediately asked for her hand in public, without even asking if she would be okay with it or not. It showed how much confidence he has in himself, and he made sure she could not refuse by shamelessly asking the emperor to do it for him, putting FL’s parents in a tight spot. ML is a resilient soul, very similar to FL, and as they get to know each other, they realized although they very much love each other, they still lost sight of accepting each other’s shortcomings, which had cost them very dearly.
This is the first show ever that I saw where the empress and the concubine got along with each other, and they are not even pretending to be just for the sake of looks. The Emperor is quirky and lovable and I totally ship them three. Their love for the ML and for each other is truly genuine and pure. And as usual, ML’s two sidekicks always get my vote of favourite goofy characters. I don’t know how they do it, but in most of military oriented shows like this, the ML always have two sidekicks with opposite characters, 1 usually serious and 1 goofy and every time, they always caught my eyes and make it to the favourite spot. Ah Qi and Ah Fei, you guys rock!
The fights are excellently choreographed, one of the best I’ve seen without the flying or superhuman sh!t, and this is also the first show that I’ve seen where people don’t vomit blood for every injury they have. In here, even as they were being hit on the abdomen repeatedly, all i see was water or saliva coming out of the mouth, and no blood. Now that is what I call realistic! It is so stupid to see injuries like sword wound or pierced by an arrow or beatings on the butt and yet they vomit blood. Duh 😒🙄 oh and the show doesn’t pull off any poisoning or amnesia trope either. 👍🏼
All in all, the screenplay is so damn good. It is 56 episode long, but it didnt feel like that due to how engaging the story is. And although none of the main and major support roles died, I still cried buckets due to the emotional rollercoaster they put me on. This title couldve gotten an all 10 points from me had they not slacked a bit on the music side. None of the OST caught my ears or stayed in my head, so there goes the music category.
However, this is also the first show that I wished it had a tragic ending. I wished FL died on that cliff on that few last episodes, and ML lived in regret forever. He had not suffered enough for abandoning FL at the earlier cliff scene. Too bad it had a happy ending instead.
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Vengeance that turn to love
Basically FL is Lu Zhaoyao, who was born at the Sealed Demon Mountain where she lived with her grandfather. Years ago, the Demon King sealed his son in the mountain and casted a seal on the mountain so that none of the nearby villagers can go out and none can come in too. FL is part of the Lu clan who was tasked to guard the sealed mountain, so she never stepped out and never saw anyone from outside. One day Luo Ming Xuan, titled Golden Diety from the Immortal Sect, came to the mountain to kill the son of demon king, but failed and was injured by the seal. He was found by FL and she took care of him secretly as she was smitten with how handsome he looked. He was the first person she ever saw other than her grandfather, so she clung to him and asked him to marry her as payment for her taking care of him. LMX brushed it off as a joke, and he told FL to be a good person and to live for the good of others. LMX left and after pestering by FL, the grandfather agreed to let her out if she could train hard enough and lift the seal herself. After a while, she managed to do this and set off to see the world, clutching tightly to LMX’s advice to be good and live for the prosperity of the world.Little that they know, when seal was struck by LMX and backfired, it was broken momentarily and the son of demon king managed to slip out. So all this while the son of demon king was wandering outside, becoming an outcast because he didnt know how to interact and communicate with others. Disciples of the Immortal Sect started to notice him hence captured him to be killed. On the day of the killing, with all other 10 immortal sects convening to commence the sentence, FL came flying and freed him, as she heard from the people that this kid had done nothing wrong besides of being the son of demon king. They fled together and FL named this kid the ML, as Mo Qing with nickname Little Monster because of the mark of the seal on his face . Being the naive girl that she was, FL decided to confront the LMX as she didnt believe he would order the execution of an innocent kid just because he was the son of demon king. LMX imprisoned and tortured FL to force her to reveal the whereabouts of ML, and when he was about to kill her, the grandfather appeared and whisked her free. He cast a spell to open a portal and tossed FL through, and as he did this, LMX killed him. This event marked the point where FL swore defiance against Immortal Sect, where she started her own sect called the Wanlu and fought with Immortal Sect whenever she could. With the title Demoness, she became the worst enemy the Immortal Sect has ever seen. She crashed LMX’s wedding and sealed him, but later died when she tried to obtain the Wanjun sword that was sealed by the Demon King. ML managed to get the sword, unsealed his powers, lost the mark, and he became the Wanlu Sect leader ever since. 5 years passed, FL was revived when Qin Zhiyan’s blood was splashed on her ice tomb. She awoke but realized she had Qin Zhiyan’s face instead. With a huge grudge for ML’s betrayal, FL agreed to help Qin Zhiyan seek revenge for her father’s death if Qin Zhiyan would help her get around Wanlu Sect as a disciple so she could find an opportunity to kill ML and retained her position as leader again. But as she spent time in the sect, she realized everything did not seem like what she believed anymore. At the same time, 2nd ML Jiang Wu appeared, who was actually a demon in the heart of the purest person the immortal sect Qin Qianxian that had materialized while Qin Qianxian was meditating in front of FL’s ice tomb. Jiang Wu wreaked havoc in Jiang Hu and the immortal sect and wanlu sect was forced to join hands to defeat him, which led to a series of events that would unveil the true colours of the Golden Diety that the immortal sects has revered for years.
Gosh that is super long summary. No wonder i was puzzled by the summary in dramalist and other sites, they didnt tell quite the exact story cuz they all started when FL already became notorious as demoness. This super long show took 30 episodes for the ML and FL to reconcile and 32 episodes for the misunderstanding between them to straighten out. OMG cant believe I stayed for that long. 😂
Anyway, i think this show is okay, it’s too long but okay enough to keep me watching. Better than Burning Flame that i watched prior to this one. But the theme is kinda the same. The immortal sect that was supposed to be good and uphold justice turned out to be the real demon, and the
bad, demonic sect that was ostracized all this while had been the good one.
I especially loved the way the story is strewn. There were goofy parts and there were serious parts. Love the goofy parts when FL was walking around the sect with Qin Zhiyan’s face and thought she was seducing ML, when in reality ML had seen through all her facade right from the beginning. The proposal scene is probably the sweetest yet the goofiest that I’ve seen on screen of all cdrama so far.
This is the first time that I saw Bai Lu, and I thought she has an uncanny resemblance to Li Qin. From her facial expressions, the way she portrays the arrogant Lu Zhaoyao, the way she acted as the mischievous and haughty Qin Zhiyan double, the way she dress, looked exactly like Li Qin’s characters in Princess Agents and The Song of Glory, so from start to finish i keep seeing Li Qin instead of the one named Bai Lu. Anyway, the actress executed this character well, love her domineering act as demoness and the cutesyness when she was impersonating Qin Zhiyan. She is really good playing different types of characters at one go.
I think the one playing ML was extremely handsome with a boyish look. But even with such boyish look, he managed to pull off the look of a strict and arrogant sect leader, and that look of evil as the demon was consuming him. He didnt get much dialogue at the beginning of the show, so I failed to feel the attraction between him and FL, but as the story unfolds, the attraction becomes strong and real really quick. He was really good at sad scenes too. I really like the blue hue of his hair. The red hair on Jiang Wu is brilliant too, it kinda gives off good-bad vibe on their characters ML and 2nd ML. Blue being good and red being bad.
I need to specially mention Qin Zhiyan as the 2nd FL, gosh at first i hated this character, so cowardly, always making silly mistakes bringing trouble to FL, very childish and weak too. But I guess this character was important to nurture FL into what she became towards the middle of the story, as this may be considered the first friend she ever had after ML. This character started to be useful when the Wanlu Sect almost broke apart with Jiang Wu’s intervention as she helped with the sect management. And the ending for her is truly unpredictable cuz I never imagined it to be as such. But she looked the part so I guess this 2nd FL character must have the biggest progress among all. She became wise, reasonable, and capable in the end.
I have not much memory of the music, i think they were good but not captivating enough.
I love the fighting scenes. Although the CGI in the last few episodes especially of ML in limbo is horrible and those zapping sounds when he was fighting the dragon only make it worse, the rest of the show is bearable and okay, definitely better than Burning Flames.
SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE !!!!!!
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When i was watching, i thought the editing isnt as bad as the chats have been mentioning, because I have seen worse edits than this, but when i reached episode 53, okay this show really topped it out of having the worst editing ever. How come everything got jumbled here and there and not streamlined? They really love to keep the audience confused and frustrated is it? The ending episode is the worst, although it shows they finally got together, the scenes are all haywire! One scene FL was all in white and reminiscing her memory while waiting for ML outside the sword tomb, looking all mature, soft and aloof, and the next where ML and FL were grinning and laughing while holding hands, walking down the street filled with people, in the attire they were in was what they wore years before. Omg is this a flashback or what!!! And the next scene was of a pair of their teenage kids reenacting the scene where supposedly the parents met. Omg yes this is the most unfulfilling ending I’ve ever seen. 😡
Edit: i was not satisfied with the ending, did not comprehend it at all, so I decided to read the novel. My gosh the novel’s ending was so damn perfect and even more exhilerating! Why the heck did the writers decided to change it into this abomination of all endings? Duhhhhh. So those who feel as i did about the series horrible ending, go read the novel instead.
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Weird Xianxia Universe
So in this BF universe, there are Immortal Realm, Mortal Realm and Demon Realm. There is no God or way of heaven like the usual xianxia because in this universe, instead of being the one maintaining order of the three realms, the Immortal Realm became the evil one with no one to constrain them, the demon realm is actually the good ones, theyre the original immortals who lost the immortal war back 100,000 years ago and were forced to live underground by King of Immortal. And the mortal realm is in chaos with people being enslaved to do the immortals bidding.ML is Wu Geng, a prince of the Xin kingdom in the mortal realm. His father is King of Xin, and the story opened up to him declaring war with the immortals and fight for freedom for the mortal realm. He was very strong and gifted and he was beating the immortal army to pulp, which forced the Immortal King out of his seclusion to fight him head on. You see it was supposed to be a big deal if u can get the king of immortal to come down to the mortal world as in a sense his henchmen should be fighting it off first. So you should get an idea how powerful King of Xin was. Although King of Xin had forged a bond with the Undying bird, an ancient divine spirit, it was still not enough so of course the Immortal King won and King Xin died. Empress of Xin brought ML to the palace tower for their last stand but in the end decided to kill both his son and herself when the immortal high priestess Xinyue Kui arrived to the tower.
Wu Geng, however, had his soul transported into A Gou, a dumb orphan of Xin Kingdom. Apparently, A Gou was a wisp of Wu Geng’s primordial spirit which the Empress had casted upon his birth into the mortal world as backup for this event that she foresaw coming. The Empress, whose name was Xinyue Hu sister of current immortal high priestess, was actually a priest of the immortal realm before she defected to the mortal realm when she fell in love with Wu Geng’s father. And so began Wu Geng’s new life as A Gou where he lived in a hut with FL - Bai Cai, and 4 other ophaned kids.
After the fall of Xin Kingdom, Bai Kingdom took over as they were in cahoots with the immortals. Under the Bai Kingdom reign, all able bodied adults are enslaved into mining bloodstones for the immortals. Bai Cai and A Gou were taken to Northern Mountain mine and stayed there for a few years before A Gou led an escape and start his journey of leading the league of anti-immortal army across the three realms. The objective was to defeat King of Immortal Realm - Hei Long, and set those who had been oppressed by the Immortal realm free of slavery and oppression.
The concept on this show took some time to sink in. Instead of the immortals usually being the ones sacrificing themselves to maintain order of three realms, they became the source of chaos instead. There was no entity that can keep them in check and the world was left in chaos for more than 100,000 years since Hei Long won the Immortal war. The demon realm was the remnants of the immortals who lost the immortal war and most of them were good, and the immortal realm was actually filled with new immortals that Hei Long had created to do his bidding, so most were evil and brutal.
The CGI was truly horrible for a 2024 production, and how they introduce skills used by the experts were so comical - with big caption of the name of the skill running across the screen. It reminds me of those shows back in the 90s.
I first saw Ren Jia Lun in The Blue Whisper, so thought this show hadnt exploited his talents to the max as they did with TBW. His character here is too one way street. Even as a prince he was still upright, although quite arrogant and brash, but the good trait was still similar to what he carried on as A Gou. This prince only lasted for 2 episodes so there’s not much depth of his character as Prince Wu Geng of the reigning Xin Kingdom.
The FL, Bai Cai, is one hell of an annoying character. So clingy always calling my a gou here my a gou there. The only thing she’s good for was for her healing ability. And I also don’t get the ancient divine soul thing. How come she becomes evil once this soul is awakened? It’s weird cuz divine power shouldve been good and just cuz theyre supposed to be the thing that keeps the world in order but here, everything that relates to immortality and divinity seem to be bad and evil. The universe here was so weird.
I truly pity Xinyue Kui. She was supposed to be the closest one to King of Immortal, the supreme high priestess that governs the three realms on his behalf, but she always gets her butt kicked all over by mortals, immortals and demons alike 😂😂 whats even more pathetic was that all the evil things she did to protect the reign of King of Immortal was due to her crush on him only to find out that all the things that the king did for the past 100,000 years was because to revive his loved one 😂 Gosh that is so lame.
2nd FL, A Lan is an immortal from Shenyin clan that turned their back upon King of Immortal’s reign after the war. She tries hard to fulfill the high priest of shen yin clan’s last wish that is to protect Wu Geng at all cost. The shen yin high Priest is Wu Geng’s grandfather, and father of Xinyue Kui and Xinyue Hu. He was the immortal clan’s high priest before being toppled out of his position by his own eldest daughter. I first saw Zhu Xu Dan in Fateful Love and i see her performance here hasnt improved at all. Still beautiful and yet still as wooden as ever.😂
The good thing about this show is that there was no love tug of war between the 3 women who fell in love with ML. A Lan knew ML and FL was in love with each other and she maintained her distance as a friend to both instead. The third love interest was not even worth to mention because she was like a teenage kid who just had a crush for the first time. She also got killed off quite quickly after being introduced (within a few episodes). so because everyone acts amicably, there was no tricks and jealousy drama to win ML’s heart between the women. FL also fully put her trust on ML and never wavered come what may.
The battle scenes are horrendous and hard to watch, both the first battle with Xin King and the final battle on immortal island. The CGI was bad in the first, and the manpower was laughable in the final. It’s like they came to wage war in the immortal island with less than 50 footsoldiers. 😂 gosh what a joke. Really tell you theyre on a super tight budget.
For me personally, i think Burning Flames belong to the same category as Ancient Love Poetry, the category where I had been duped by the reviews to think that theyre good. 😂 but yeah at least Burning Flame had a good enough plot to keep me watching to the end compared to ALP which i dropped after 5 torturous episodes.
SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE…….
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In this show, the ML’s skills are vastly acquired by other people giving him their cultivation years or skill. I dont know, i still think as a half immortal, ML is still too dang weak to take on the king of immortal who had reigned for 100,000 years. Even at the final battle i didnt think it’s logical even in xianxia terms. All the skills and strength he acquired was from people of the recent 2-3 generations, except for the remnant power from Sea spirit ancestor who of course was much weaker even at his prime compared King of Immortal - thats why the sea spirit ancestor ended up dead in tue immortal war.
There was no special skill from ancient people at all. Then how come he was able to win against an entity who had cultivated since over 100,000 years ago? How come he won just by using Nitian Erxing’s last breath? Nitian Erxing isnt ancient. He’s of the same generation with ML even. Although he’s the grand marshall of the demon realm and the descendant of ancient immortal, he’s a far cry from a notable ancient figure compared to king of immortal. I would understand if the ML came across really ancient power while he was gaining his skill and strength to fight King of Immortal. I could even understand if he was granted a power by a supreme being after he got pummelled to death by King of Immortal. I could also understand if somehow all the sages came together and supported him at the last minute so they somehow won over the king, but really none of that happened. So the result of the final battle is baffling to me.
I’m puzzled at the last episode too. FL is just a mere mortal, so how come she gets to be revived back after she was killed compared to other demons and immortals with higher cultivation than hers? For example A Lan. It’s puzzling even in xianxia concept of rebirth and reincarnation.
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Great show with promising storyline
This is the second show i saw with Dylan Wang, the first had been Evernight, which he didnt disappoint. Despite the criticism that I read for his role in Evernight, i thought he did a good job in accordance to the novel.The show is about ML who got immersed in a game that he was playing with his friends in modern time. When he started playing, he went right into the game, playing the ML Xu Qi An, a somewhat low rank policeman in Dafeng. He rose through the rank and martial skills as he met with numerous significant people along the way, captivating them with his poetry, investigative skill and no nonsense persona.
I must say this ML is quite a character. I especially love his handphone-like gadget (complete with earbud 😂) when he got involved in the heavenly-something guild. I particularly love the relationship he had with his family, which didnt sound good before but improved after he got into the game. Love how they built his working relationships too, progressing from hateful superiors to loyal ones who would jump in to save him in a blink of an eye.
I didnt really want to mention FL much cuz i thought that her character was absolutely unnecessary. Had she not have that relationship with Princess Pingyang, which provided somewhat backstory information for ML’s investigation, she really doesnt function at all. The romance is totally negligible and unnecessary cuz this show is more to investigative/martial/comedy type. I feel squat spark between them, nada,zero. Honestly speaking, i thought ML has so much stronger chemistry with Cai Wei and consort of Zhenbei, even Princess Huaiqing! Whenever ML and FL got on screen, all i see is sibling vibe rather than a couple. And because FL’s character is so damn annoying in the earlier episodes, i ended up fast forwarding her scenes later on. Although this character progressed for the better towards the end after she discovered the true fate of her best friend Princess Pingyang, i still fastforward all scenes with her especially the romantic ones.
Other supporting characters are all great. All costumes are so nice, the uniforms/armours are smart and cool, and the female costumes are apt and not too flamboyant.
What did i dislike about this show? Well some of the comedic scenes are just over the top and extra. The final showdown was too short and i believe since they plan for season 2 (based on the post credit scene), the cliffhanger is somewhat a downer.
Although this show come close to Joy of Life vibe, it still falls short of it. Still a good show though, and i especially love ML’s powers and upgrades here. Overall it’s an enjoyable show and i hope season 2 wont take 4-5 years like JoL 😭 anyway, im off to read the novel since the series provided no proper ending.
Edit: ive just reached the arc where Xu Qi An beheaded the traitors Que and Cao in the novel, and as expected, novel Xu Qi An isnt as stupid as the series Xu Qi An who easily got duped by the second princess posing as Imperial Princess. Thats the one flaw of the series that doesnt compute with Xu Qi An’s intelligence. It’s impossible that he cannot deduce that Second Princess was an impostor with that many tell-tales shown. Even before reading the novel, I’ve felt that production somehow dumbed down Xu Qi An with that Second Princess. Glad i dont have to read so much of Second Princess in the novel. They shouldnt have changed this character and made her the FL. What a pointless character. Btw I liked the book’s version better than the adaptation cuz there was no memory erasing of Xu Qi An on the population at all. Everyone remembered him as a hero and the despicable Emperor was forced by his ministers to issue self reproach which exonerates Official Zheng and Xu Qi An of any wrongdoing. Wow what a satisfaction to read that part in the novel. I wonder why didnt the show follow the same line. Why make everyone forget XQA? Just for the sake of cliffhanger?
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Straightforward Romance with a Slightly Brilliant FL
I have never heard of the names of any of the actors in this series, so u can say my review is very unbiased as i picked up this title just by the whim of the moment. Finished it within 3 days too.
The story started off with a somewhat cute cartoonish creature flying around the FL, Nan Yan, which i first thought was her fairy friend or pet. But then it was revealed that even she herself doesnt know that this creature resides inside her. Then a mysterious ML comes along, then a few others she befriends with as she was supposedly curing ML’s heart disease which was similar to her mother’s.
First off, i gotta say FL is one of the brightest and quickwitted characters ive ever watched. She just looked soft, gullible, and easily manilulated, but as the story progresses, it is revealed that she’s the exact opposite of that. Yeah in the first one third of the story, she was weak in physical and magical strength, because she only focusses on her medical skill and not interested in cultivating. But after the first love tribulation, when she came back strong and reknowned as the top demon slayer, with the combination of the intelligence and strength, she became someone you dont wanna mess around. And the best part of this character is that, in situations where FLs of other typical drama would go down the rabbit hole of misunderstanding and grudge against their better half, Nan Yan did not! Ha!
As for the ML, i like it that he manage to put on two very different attitude and demeanor of he as Shao Cang and later as Yin. Shao Cang appears to be arrogant and yet humble in his own way, aloof as the monarch of his sect and yet still cares of lives around him. While Yin, although still has the aloof aura as he doesnt really interact with people due to his demonic possession, has a much brash attitude and rather harsh in his actions.
Other supporting characters are all great. Costume are nice to look at and doesnt look too flamboyant.
The thing i dislike about the series is how badly the editing is. One scene jumps right to another in the middle of a conversation, which i sometimes had to backtrack to confirm if i had been spacing out and missed anything. This scene would eventually be explained in another scene through flashbacks. So yeah they wanted to keep it a surprise as not to reveal everything in a streamline fashion, but cutting in the middle of a conversation is such a turnoff. I keep getting dumbfounded as the scenes dont tally with the next that i eventually stopped backtracking and just went with it. Sure enough, that dumbfounding scene would then be explained later.
I feel that there is not much chemistry between the main couple. I almost felt it between Shao Cang and NanYan, but later when he came back as Yin, it somehow got diffused and became lost. The villains keep popping out episode after episode but Sen Luo is probably a major disappointment after they build up his reputation as the owner of three divine hearts and conqueror of 5 demon prisons which cannot even be vanquished by the best demi god of the realm - he can only be imprisoned while the demi god himself perish later on. All these hype and this demon lord get kicked out of the scene just like that? There was hardly any battle at all. And those banter between Yin and Sen Luo made it look like this demon lord is a mere joke instead of second biggest villain.
SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE_____________
I dont get the point of Yin having to be killed by Nan Yan in the last episode too. The drama is just nonexistent as two minutes later (3 years by the story) he would resurrect yet again. There’s no explanation of why or how he manage to live again though. So I see it as pointless. The last episode seemed rushed especially the the last battle between the lovers.
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Subpar execution, expected twists, predicted ending.
A doctor was framed for malpractice, forced to admit guilt, had his medical license revoked and jailed for two years only to return as a lawyer 5 years later to exact revenge against those who threw him under the bus.Kinda lame storyline, right? Wait til u see the ML, he’s even worse. Can only hold one type of expression throughout the show - furrowed eyebrows, agitated/confused eyes with constipated look. A pure downer when the main poster made him look so dashing and sinister. The only things that kept the show from falling apart are the fiery prosecuter ex fiancee of his - the FL, and the conniving korean american lobbyist - the SML - who keeps stirring the pot with unexpected moves.
The ending plottwist is also expected, u kinda get the hints as the show progressed cuz they showed too much. I wouldve prefered if they had made do without those hints.
I wish these kdrama directors would make their actors who supposedly play characters that lived abroad to take conversational english classes so that they can deliver their english lines right. It’s really cringy to see how these supposedly koreans living abroad who came back only to speak English that no audience can really understand. The only one who can speak decent english on this show is Jayden’s sidekick. Honestly I dont really expect them to speak with an accent like native speakers, but at least pronounce them right so people can understand without relying on the english subs. So far that i’ve seen, the only character that managed to pull off korean-living-abroad role is Stella Hwang from Partners for Justice, and thats because the actress Stephanie Lee is Korean American. That is how the english should be delivered for roles who are supposed to be from abroad. And if the actors cant speak it, the least the directors could do is not include english in their lines. It makes the roles less convincing when they speak poor english.
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Impressive storyline for a zombie show.
It’s a survival story of a group of townspeople who had been attacked by black smoke that came from a sinkhole, which can turn people into super athletic zombie-like mutants upon inhalation. In the chaos, ML, a towtruck driver met with FL, a detective from Seoul on the hunt for a serial killer whose among victims had been her husband, although they got separated in the beginning of the disaster, they eventually cross paths again and joined hands in their quest to find a safe place for the survivors.First off, I am not a fan of zombie stories. I especially dislike korean zombies cuz once turned, they instantly become superhumans. When i clicked this title, i thought it’d be a sci-fi mystery show of some sort. Nuh-uh, in fact this show has the highest functioning zombie-mutants of all, some of them can even read, speak, think with vengeance! Wth man. Almost dropped it when I realized it is a zombie show, but decided to stay on cuz I was curious to see the showdown between the FL and the serial killer, and how the mainleads were going to defeat the shaman who can control zombies, and the thing in the smoke that controls everything that got infected.
I must say, Lee Hwa Seon the FL, is the most combatworthy Kdrama female detective I’ve ever seen. Other policewomen ive seen so far usually rely on brains and wits while pretty bad at hand-on-hand combat. Not Hwa Seon. She’s not No Mercy type of fighter who does the martial artist kind of fights, but a realistic ordinary person who fights with brawn and wits. She also doesn’t give a second thought at going against higher ranked elders. One pet peeves of mine on kdrama is as asians are people who puts high regards on our elders status, we rarely talk back to them, let alone fight with them. And the elders with power and status (especially those despicable chaebols) in kdrama are usually exceptionally loud, foul-mouthed, super domineering and really love to hit people. It’s satisfying to see FL standing up against those types for once. She’s not rude or anything, she’s just brave and firm. Lee Hwa Seon has become the most badass female detective in kdrama in my eyes.
I really like the chemistry of the main leads. They do not have any romantic relationship, but the chemistry is damn striking. Both are willing to go out of their ways to save strangers, even at the risk of their own lives. In earlier episodes I couldnt understand how this tow truck driver suddenly becomes a hero ready to save everyone around him disregarding his own safety without even giving it a second thought, i even got annoyed and thought this character as reckless. then they revealed who he was before and then only everything falls into place. Pretty neat, really.
The screenwriters are also really good at suspense building. Else how can anyone explain how someone who hates zombie shows like me got hooked? How humans can be desperate and sinister enough to stay alive even if it means to kill others in the name of cult sacrifice. How each characters’ dark secrets are thrown into the plot is also rather brilliant. As each secret is revealed, I got impressed even more.
One thing i noticed about kdrama is that they do so many flashbacks! I get it that it’s to build background of each character, but the flshbacks on this show is just waaay too much. For example, The scene of ML telling his partner that he got fired from the police force, was shown at least 4 times. I mean come on, 4 times? It’s no longer character background building, it’s background overload! I think if the repetitive flashbacks are compiled they couldve filled up an entire episode (or more!).
Also, I really dont get the staring contest in kdramas. They stare at each other in fights when there are still enemies around and they stare after the fights when time is essential. It’s really getting on my nerves. And when they do it in zombie shows where people can get attacked from literally anywhere, it becomes annoying af.
I can’t shake off the thought of how the enemy in here is somewhat like a combination of Train to Busan and Stephen King’s The Mist. Scary right? Superhuman zombie plus mysterious monster in the smoke. However I am glad this show has better and much more satisfying ending than the two shows.
If youre someone who love zombie or disaster survival shows, then this is definitely for you. Those who arent, well it doesnt hurt to give it a try. You can always drop it if u dont like it. Personally it has been an entertaining ride for me.
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Good storyline, Amazing Chemistry, Satisfying Ending
Gangster boy ML turned his life into an interesting one when he followed his mom’s footsteps to become a lawyer. He made his living with conniving methods of helping out his gangster kingpin uncle to work around the law, up to tricking a policeman to catch him red handed asking for bribe, has earned a luxurious life with quite a reputation in the lawyer community. While FL, a hot-headed lawyer got suspended after she beat the crap out of the judge who sentenced her client unjustly for killing her wife beating stalker husband. They end up working together in ML’s Lawless Law Firm taking uncanny types of clients.Good start for the first episode, and it got me hooked. The following episodes revealed a much sinister plot that revolve around the life of ML, FL and the most revered person in the city - Judge Cha.
The screenwriters did a superb job in laying out the storyline and mysteries, then have the main leads unravel one secret after another in the courtroom. Both main characters spare no effort if they need to use force while chasing the leads to free their clients.
Although I was impressed by FL’s resort to brute force in Episode 1, the following ones become a downer before they never show her in action anymore. All the fightings are done by ML and his stooges. Although it is undeniable that theyre pretty good ones. Every episodes kept me on the edge of my seat, anticipating ML’s next unconventional move.
I hope they make season 2. Would really like to see the Lawless Law Firm in action again.
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