This review may contain spoilers
At times, really good. At times, really bad. Probably because more things "said" than "shown"
*This review contains vague spoilers, not specific spoilers. Read at your own risk.*
NOTE: If you're watching this because you think it's the Ancient Love Poetry sequel that will reveal the romance story of the characters Tianqi and Yuemi, this is NOT the drama. Because of copyright issues, this drama should be viewed as only vaguely related and a standalone with distinct differences. I personally have come to think of this drama as a alternate universe for Tianqi and Yuemi, so their backstories don't match Ancient Love Poetry. But, also, if you enjoyed Ancient Love Poetry, and you came here to watch for a continuation of Tianqi and Yuemi, this is like a lukewarm drama to soothe your heart temporarily. It's not really a good one because there is a twist later in the drama that essentially makes this drama NOT a continuation of their story.
--
Okay, now, my thoughts.
This drama started strong with a compelling and tragic first story arc. In fact, all the arcs in the drama did a pretty good job at tying together and tying back to the main storyline. But I would say that the beginning--the first 1/3--was good. The main characters, Bai Shuo and Fan Yue, were still skeptical of one another, learning to trust one another. The other main characters, Chong Zhao and Fu Ling, had a complicated, messed up relationship that built tension really well.
But somewhere in the middle, it felt...boring? Especially for the main leads. I think once Bai Shuo and Fan Yue fell in love, they became really boring. I'm not saying this just to be a hater. I think their romance wasn't earned. The writing of this drama was not convincing. They also became super repetitive. I get that the writing wanted to write them as this kind of pure, green-flag romantic couple who reassured one another and supported each other. But sometimes, it felt like toxic positivity. The characters couldn't just sit in their sad feelings and grieve. Their partner needed to be like, "It's not your fault. You did everything you can. No matter what happens, I'll always be here." So then, the writing felt forced to make the romance move along. I understand that with the 40-episode limit, with 5-6 mini-story arcs, it wasn't easy. But when your main characters become boring...unfortunately, the acting of Ao Ruipeng, especially, was weaker than others at this time, too. When he becomes the character Jing Yuan, somehow, he's more expressive. But as Fan Yue, he becomes a bit bland after falling in love.
Meanwhile, the secondary couple's relationship became really interesting as we reached the halfway point of the drama. Demoness vs Eternal, evil vs good, deception vs truth, while also having to rely on each other at times--they had many dimensions to them, and so were entertaining to watch.
The supporting characters: I enjoyed the fact that the writing even gave them personalities. A lot of times, xianxia dramas like these just give supporting characters the most bland and basic stereotypical personalities. But not this one. For example, the right-hand woman of Fan Yue, Tian Huo. She had the typical role of serving her master with complete loyalty, and in a typical xianxia, she would've been written as someone who fell in love with Fan Yue. Instead, she didn't, so she was never jealous of Bai Shuo. She respected Fan Yue and was also grateful to him. It was refreshing to see their platonic relationship.
But, as I mentioned, the writing can be repetitive. If I have to hear a villain say, "Do you really think you can kill me? Do you really think I haven't levelled up since the last time...?" one more time, I'll scream. It was so overdone, overused, and became annoying. The final villain boss was fairly scary, but his lines could've been scarier.
The soundtrack was strong. With Sa Dingding and Zhou Shen, especially, the songs were memorable.
Overall, the writing can be mediocre at times. But I think you would enjoy this for complete different reasons.
If you want green-flag romance, then after the main leads trust each other and fall in love, it's pretty much like that for most of the time.
If you like red-flag romance, the secondary main leads have a really complicated relationship from beginning to about the middle (that gradually becomes green flag later).
If you like tragedy and sacrifices and angst, this drama definitely has so much of that.
If you want want light-heartedness, this isn't really it. There are some sweet moments and good scenes, but there are a lot of deaths too. There's a reason why Sa DingDing's OST is the MAIN song. Her voice is great at inflicting pain when you're already weeping from the story.
Also, perhaps a good time to remind watchers: Be aware that, in this year of 2025 with China's censorship rules on dramas, the main characters aren't really allowed to be morally grey. If they are, they usually don't get happy endings...so keep that in mind.
NOTE: If you're watching this because you think it's the Ancient Love Poetry sequel that will reveal the romance story of the characters Tianqi and Yuemi, this is NOT the drama. Because of copyright issues, this drama should be viewed as only vaguely related and a standalone with distinct differences. I personally have come to think of this drama as a alternate universe for Tianqi and Yuemi, so their backstories don't match Ancient Love Poetry. But, also, if you enjoyed Ancient Love Poetry, and you came here to watch for a continuation of Tianqi and Yuemi, this is like a lukewarm drama to soothe your heart temporarily. It's not really a good one because there is a twist later in the drama that essentially makes this drama NOT a continuation of their story.
--
Okay, now, my thoughts.
This drama started strong with a compelling and tragic first story arc. In fact, all the arcs in the drama did a pretty good job at tying together and tying back to the main storyline. But I would say that the beginning--the first 1/3--was good. The main characters, Bai Shuo and Fan Yue, were still skeptical of one another, learning to trust one another. The other main characters, Chong Zhao and Fu Ling, had a complicated, messed up relationship that built tension really well.
But somewhere in the middle, it felt...boring? Especially for the main leads. I think once Bai Shuo and Fan Yue fell in love, they became really boring. I'm not saying this just to be a hater. I think their romance wasn't earned. The writing of this drama was not convincing. They also became super repetitive. I get that the writing wanted to write them as this kind of pure, green-flag romantic couple who reassured one another and supported each other. But sometimes, it felt like toxic positivity. The characters couldn't just sit in their sad feelings and grieve. Their partner needed to be like, "It's not your fault. You did everything you can. No matter what happens, I'll always be here." So then, the writing felt forced to make the romance move along. I understand that with the 40-episode limit, with 5-6 mini-story arcs, it wasn't easy. But when your main characters become boring...unfortunately, the acting of Ao Ruipeng, especially, was weaker than others at this time, too. When he becomes the character Jing Yuan, somehow, he's more expressive. But as Fan Yue, he becomes a bit bland after falling in love.
Meanwhile, the secondary couple's relationship became really interesting as we reached the halfway point of the drama. Demoness vs Eternal, evil vs good, deception vs truth, while also having to rely on each other at times--they had many dimensions to them, and so were entertaining to watch.
The supporting characters: I enjoyed the fact that the writing even gave them personalities. A lot of times, xianxia dramas like these just give supporting characters the most bland and basic stereotypical personalities. But not this one. For example, the right-hand woman of Fan Yue, Tian Huo. She had the typical role of serving her master with complete loyalty, and in a typical xianxia, she would've been written as someone who fell in love with Fan Yue. Instead, she didn't, so she was never jealous of Bai Shuo. She respected Fan Yue and was also grateful to him. It was refreshing to see their platonic relationship.
But, as I mentioned, the writing can be repetitive. If I have to hear a villain say, "Do you really think you can kill me? Do you really think I haven't levelled up since the last time...?" one more time, I'll scream. It was so overdone, overused, and became annoying. The final villain boss was fairly scary, but his lines could've been scarier.
The soundtrack was strong. With Sa Dingding and Zhou Shen, especially, the songs were memorable.
Overall, the writing can be mediocre at times. But I think you would enjoy this for complete different reasons.
If you want green-flag romance, then after the main leads trust each other and fall in love, it's pretty much like that for most of the time.
If you like red-flag romance, the secondary main leads have a really complicated relationship from beginning to about the middle (that gradually becomes green flag later).
If you like tragedy and sacrifices and angst, this drama definitely has so much of that.
If you want want light-heartedness, this isn't really it. There are some sweet moments and good scenes, but there are a lot of deaths too. There's a reason why Sa DingDing's OST is the MAIN song. Her voice is great at inflicting pain when you're already weeping from the story.
Also, perhaps a good time to remind watchers: Be aware that, in this year of 2025 with China's censorship rules on dramas, the main characters aren't really allowed to be morally grey. If they are, they usually don't get happy endings...so keep that in mind.
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