lokilisa

you can do a lot in 40 eps...
there are many reasons why i didn't like this drama, first of all the writing was sooooo lazy i was actually so sick and tired towards the end.
The reason why is because the dialogue was not written with care at all. It felt so unnatural in my head no body speaks like that. first of all every piece of dialogue is so painfully predictable i knew exactly what they were going to say and to add on to that, the characters never really TALKED to each other all they did was speak in a series of monologues and the same ones at that.
For example the same motivational speech that the FL did every single time like "i don't believe in fate" she said that so many times i couldn't count.
The reason why dialogue is so important is that it builds the foundation of every relationship, and with bad dialogue these relationships felt so shallow, every time they spoke i thought of a way in which they could've done it better.
something this so really lacked was the character depth and development, mainly with the female lead. There were so many missed opportunities. first the relationship between her and her sister was so underdeveloped to the point were i even forgot they were siblings, they could've really tapped into the angst that had been created from betrayal and jealousy. instead we only say mu ranwu's perspective on all of it she was always the center of that relationship's conflict, because she was creating most of it.
alternatively xue ran ran could've gotten mad at her and actually confronted her sister for once so that the relation between then had some resolve.
another missed opportunity that would've given xue ran ran some depth is the identity crisis that she faced from having two life times, they came close when she said "who am I" but it ended there. if they delved in to how lost she would feel doubting herself and her final resolve would've been so impactful considering how repetitive her character was these editions that i just mentioned would've really increased the quality of her character and made her less one dimensional.
moving on
the story writing made me actually angry. the thing is i could tell that they did not spend any time building the world at all . i got whiplash every time the characters would randomly mention some talisman or some spell that did this and that. there was SO MUCH exposition dumping, they violated the main storytelling rule "show, not tell", and all the writers were doing was telling, because tell me why xue ran ran knew EVERYTHING abt everything and was always explaining everything. the reason this makes me mad is the lack of respect for the audience to think about literally anything. I felt like a toddler being told every little unnecessary detail about everything. there are so may different more creative ways to convey information important to the plot without compromising the quality of your writing for example instead of telling me what the talisman does it could've been shown in a flash back of someone using it incorrectly for the comedic effect or for a more serious approach it could've been shown in one of the characters memories while they were copying scriptures or something . anyhow I'm just trying to say is that it was a case of poor execution.
the thing were xue ran ran was constantly talking to herself was also killing it for me.
another thing i didn't like was the run time, this drama was TOO long as in it should've ended after they sealed the spirit spring , because tell me why there was a amnesia arc right after, that just made me so upset its like moving backwards within the story.
anyways if i wrote everything that bothered me i would be here all day so let me stop being a hater and say the things i liked.

i liked the visuals , all the costuming and the landscapes really kept me going they were all pleasing to the eyes.
i also enjoyed some of the action scenes they were done creatively at times like when they fought with swords i enjoyed that the most. when they overuse spiritual energy it kind of takes me out of it a bit because why is there a sword if your not gonna use it?
anyways even though i thought it was bad it was still captivating and addicting to watch if it wasn't i wouldn't have lasted the whole show this meant that the director knew what they were doing when it came to that aspect.
another positive is the ML's character development and depth, in alternative to the FL i feel like they spent more time fleshing out his character and really invested in him. you as the audience could feel his distraught and hurt throughout the drama and his guilt and desperation too which shows the great capabilities of the actor too.

anyways that's all i can tell allot of people liked this drama and honestly if that's you I'm glad you liked it this is just my rant into the MDL void.