KingC

I saw many explanations, but its bad ending for me cause of this reason: Because TTJ became a God in the end right before he disappeared. And Gods can't resurrect in this drama. They vanish for good. And just like how a fragment of Ming Ye's consciousness was trapped in the scale, now TTJ is in his place. So... he exists in a permanent way unable to resurrect, forever just a fragment.
Usually in Xianxias, even a small belonging of the leads makes it hopeful enough for them to come back. But, this is the 1st time I'm seeing a drama that just shut that door.
Or else, like in the novel (which has a happy ending) and what happened in Ashes of Love, they are reborn in the mortal realm.

The moment they added the fact that DG literally pre-planned a life of hell for TTJ, I knew where the drama was heading. The good thing? He succumbed to his fate in a brave manner and used it for the good.
The bad thing? He didn't get a proper closure. Not even from the person he loved. Which just makes me mad. (Him being present as a sliver of soul who is unable to cultivate into a full formed individual is not my definition of a happy ending. Even Jin Mi managed to return after her soul disappeared in Ashes of Love. )
In the end, he was the hero. He ran the extra mile while everyone else paled in comparison, even Li Su Su, whom I expected to have a much more profound role. That's what makes me even more upset.

I have the same question. But... I think by the way LSS held it, it has TTJ.

The drama's most powerful weapon are the actors, CGI and costumes.
Unfortunately, I absolutely loved the Bo're Life arc which I sort of guessed had a lot of mirror imagery and foreshadowing. And what's a xianxia without a God of War around?
But, the last few episodes seems to pale in comparison to how that arc concluded. It almost seems to drag out unnecessarily.
I, for some reason, feel disconnected to the plot as a whole. The lead actors are convincing enough to make me feel for the characters, but the story sort of lost its power.

Yes, but the God of War appears at the very, very end of the drama. {The daughter's father.}

If there is a genre called Dark Xianxia, this one should be on the top. There is this constant ominous feeling everywhere.
And I feel that TTJ did recognise Li Su Su in the beginning. Why does it seem like he was after the Mirror to prevent her from going back to the past? If the rules of time travel apply here, then maybe LSS is the reason for all that happened?

I think it might also be triggering to some who has gone through it. That might be the reason it was deleted.

I do get you. We have enough sadness in real life, which is why most people want dramas to have happy endings and smooth storylines.

Well... the directors did say that they wanted to seriously reflect on current issues faced by people of this age. In that aspect, The Eighth Sense definitely won. I've seen people go bonkers after breakups to the point that it scared me.

This relationship between Ji Hyun and Jae Won has more hope, especially since Ji Hyun is empathetic and knows when, where and how to react. Jae Won is not exactly in his right state of mind. But, I think the writers will pull an 'Orange (2016)' at the end.

I'm not sure if you'll get what I'm trying to say, but considering that Jae Won has been suffering from depression and seems to have once again had a serious regression in his mental health...

He is not thinking 'anything' at all. He might've never even gone upto Eun Ji and asked her to reconcile with him or something. It's clear from his actions that he is dissociating himself from any sort of emotions.
Including Ji Hyun (he talks about how his selfishness caused him to almost lose his life) and Eun Ji. (She does all the talking and he just let's her go with it. He doesn't even respond to her advances. Plus, she doesn't really seem to like him emotionally. More like how they are good together for her aesthetic value.)
Even during that disciplinary thingy, he was ready to get suspended and did not defend himself at all. He isn't looking for a job. All in all, he is just floating about and keeping himself from drowning for now. That's what I gathered from his actions.

He keeps pushing Ji Hyun away in particular cause he is the one who sort of knows him and cares about him the most. He is terrified of hurting him once again.

The last two episodes had particularly contrived writing - I love to see He Ran happy…. If it was a 36 episode drama with plenty of filler. Not when it was destined to be 24 episodes long.

I can see why the Douban ratings took a downward journey, but anything above 6 itself is a greenlight. Though, I'm sure it would've stayed above 7 had this had a neat denouement.

Personally, I prefer a warm ending, not just for He Ran and Xiao Han. But, for two reasons:

● Because there are too many dramas involving the same illness that lead to death. I recently came across someone who cheated death several times.
For once, I want a clean ending which sparks hope instead of sadness. Dramas are usually either reflective or plain fantasy. For Xia Hua, I prefer fantasy. As to why:

● He Ran in the novel was at a point where she was too weak to even talk, support herself and her final moments are lethargic. She personally makes a choice between love and life. The drama stayed clear of such dangers, having her mother play a significant role in dealing with her. How it managed to get confusing at the end, I do not know.

Everything was laid out for it to be a satisfying ending, but I seem to expect too much from Asian writers. Also, in a way, the poetic ending is fitting. [There are multiple extended versions and scenes, but I've lost energy trying to find them all.]

No. He originally had a fake copy. In EP4, we see He Ran get the real painting with the writing behind it out of the safe.
A comment on Viki went 'now he has two of the same painting' during the scene where she is lugging a frame to his house later in the same episode. She tells that it's a frame, but most viewers assume that she somehow made up an excuse to give him the original and switch out the fake. Though we are never shown anything.

Elder Jian did have a son who had left for Japan. The old beggar who first recognized Jian Bu Zhi as Wang Hua narrates at the end about wondering how he ended up calling himself Elder Jian's son as the real Jian Bu Zhi was in Japan. He later finds out how from Bu Zhi's conversations as @paxxie mentioned. (Wang Hua who lost his memories found Elder Jian's diary and assumed that he was the son.)
Santong Security boss did say that Jian Bu Zhi looked familiar.

I began a slow watch of this drama this year. Not yet to the point of head over heels hooked, but it's definitely one of the funniest and unique Chinese Dramas I've watched. And this is another excellent and beautiful article! Thanks for this!

That's an excellent observation. Maybe you are actually, right. She might've been cured. The novel ends with her mom and Yuan Qi. The major issue I have with this drama was how they treated He Ran's relapse. It could've been a 100% happy ending, but they never mention her return.

Well, the original novel ended with the girl's death. And the last scene seems akin to a dream or fantasy.
Three versions of the ending were shot. And comparing it to several other older dramas with the same kind of plot, it seems to have ambiguously ended in tragedy despite not directly stating that to the viewers.
But, if you interpretted it as a happy ending, it's totally fine.
(In my opinion, the last two episodes were hastily written. Otherwise, I would've believed that it was a happy ending. I created my own version out of it anyway.)

Either that or he died a few years after her. Like, they showed him closing his home as if it was for one final time. We see the fish and their things together. Then, we see the dream like sequence. But, it looks like he is dead too. The end credits have them reuniting. Pretty sure that implies that they reunited in the afterlife.

Skipped everything and watched the last episode. Have to say, by the way the final scene was shot, I thought that Xiao Han had died and was waiting for He Ran in the field. Or it implied that he would wait for her after his death. Or it's a happy ending. (Well, I'll imagine that they united in death if it's a sad one.)
It's been a while since I've invested my time in a contemporary CDrama. This was surprisingly good .

I totally forgot to mention the 'mystery' element -- it gave the drama 'thriller' vibes! 😀
Thanks for reading, Kate!😁

I unintentionally learnt new stuff from 'Accidental Innuendos'. 💀
Personally, I think there should be a ban on any title with 'Eternal' and 'Love' in Chinese Dramaland. (And 'Legend' is a strong contender for this too.) It has come to a point that I stay away from titles having either of these words.

And this 'lost in translation' has been spreading to subtitles too. More so in recent years. Characters would be saying something akin to an idiom and the English translation sort of spoon feeds the direct meaning. But, in the end, it's just not easy to capture the essence of a language in a universal tongue.
[Hana Yori Dango was my first experience with title translation.
Then there are titles like 'My Roommate is a Gumiho', which gave me the impression that the FL got a gumiho as her roommate and then that wasn't the case. It has an alternative title 'Frightening Cohabitation', which is much more closer to the Hangul title, but I guess it gave 'horror' vibes instead of Rom-Com.]

A very interesting article, Fourthaxis! I really enjoyed reading it. :D

If you notice, at the end of the series, there is a hint that he was being controlled by someone. Once he lost that external influence, he found himself literally reborn.
What I'm curious about is the events that might happen once Jian Bu Zhi comes to know that he is Wang Hua .

I think that's the reason why the old man tried so hard for the truth to be hidden. He realized that Bu Zhi was someone real and good. Not the blood crazed killer he had known.