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A Phenomenal Dream Lasting Three Life Times!
"When Destiny Brings the Demon" was quite an unexpected drama to say the least. There was two other dramas i began to watch simultaneously, but only WDBTD was able to enthrall me into this universe. The concept of this drama isn't new, but I usually do no gravitate towards it, however, because i was a fan of Chen Feiyu's acting aka Arthur Chen I gave it a shot and was hooked from episode one onwards!WDBTD focuses on Sima Jiao, a powerful cultivator, and his fated love aka cultivation partner - Liao Tingyan.
Sima Jiao, played by Chen Fei Yu, was initially a cold-blooded murderer, but he is actually a very misunderstood grandmaster. He doesn't kill for the sake of killing, he kills because he can't trust anyone outside of his circle. Too many people are literally out to get his blood because of how powerful his bloodline is. His blood helps cultivators level up in their powers hence it's very sought after to the point that they won't even let him die. He was trapped and suffered for 500 years until Liao Tingyan came into the picture. Despite his tendency to murder anyone who did him wrong, in the end, Sima Jiao learned to cherish and love Tingyan and will only care about her rather than those around him. He is both a red flag and green flag, but more thge latter than former as he learned from what he has done wrong. He's willing to change, and protect Tingyan even if it means sacrificing himself. Chen Feiyu did an amazing job as Sima Jiao, I really enjoyed his microexpressions, cheeky smiles to snarky smiles, the murderous glares, ugh you can differentiate each and every expression- it's just a chef's kiss. Someone mentioned he also acts with the way he moves as well, and I do agree that the movement he portrays ties everything together! I've been a fan of CFY since Evernight S1, and I have to say his acting has improved a lot since then! ^^
Liao Ting Yan is from the modern timeline who was thrust into this xianxia world while unconscious. And boy, this dream of hers was amazing to watch! I quite liked her character because of the way she's very nonchalant about this xianxia world. For exmaple, she doesn't care about gaining power, she just want sto live life without bothering too many people, and she talks about being overworked a lot, and needing a vacation - Her little monologues makes it quite hilarious imo. It's more funny when she uses modern vocabulary and SIma Jiao would be like, "What?" But he soaks it up with judgemental comments. With the help of Sima Jiao, Tingyan eventually grew to be quite strong and became Sima Jiao's cultivation partner. And of course, his fated love through three lifetimes. Despite her nonchalant personality, she is very sweet, and caring towards Sima Jiao. She has a strong love for Sima Jiao and it shows when she's able to pull through despite losing control of her mind and body at times. Love trumps all! I think Wang Yinglu did a great job portraying Liao Ting Yan through each lifetime. This is somewhat my first time watching her. I did saw "I Am Nobody" briefly with her acting as Feng Bao Bao - she was amazing there - and here she's a total different person. It shows she has range, and I love when actors or actresses play roles of different personalities and traits because it showcases their acting ability and what they can or cannot do. I am looking forward to more of her dramas from now on!
The drama would've been flawless in my book if it weren't for Bao Jian Feng's acting. It just seemed like the actor did not embrace his character very well - it felt like he was in a play rather than the actual character himself. I was more irritated by his acting more than the villain itself. LOOL It was very much like a typical old school xianxia villain type acting.
Overall, I quite enjoy the story, and the love story between Sima Jiao and Liao Tingyan. It would be amazing if they continue another lifetime in the modern timeline and finally settle down and have children. ><
Happy ending? Yes and no, more so of an open ending since they met up in real life but one doesn't know the other so it's like they're starting over again.
Would I recommend? Definitely if you enjoy watching romance, fated love, xianxia dramas, and transmigration - go for it! :]
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Keeps you on your toes!
From the very first episode, it was extremely confusing initially, but it makes you want to understand more. My curiosity grew each episode to the point I wonder which character is trustworthy and which is not.
Needless to say, the drama kept me on my toes, it is definitely like a chess game. Every single character is involved in each scheme. Whether good or bad, betrayals by blood, trust, friendship; even as a viewer you can't really trust anyone.
Each character/actor/actress was amazing in this drama!
This was my first Cheng Yi drama, he plays Qi Yan.
Let me just begin by saying, he is an AMAZING actor, I was blown away by the way he acts in subtlety. Not many actors can act the way he does. They can get away just acting cold, emotionless but that's just boring to me. That's not acting to me, Cheng Yi was able to use his facial muscles and give such minuscule expressions - the pain, hurt, happiness, sadness - in subtle ways that I'm basically his fan now. Haahha Moving on, Qi Yan as a character was interesting. At first I didn't know which side he stood, he basically put a lot pressure on himself, refusing to believe anyone because everyone just wants to betray one another except for Cheng Ruo Yu. She is the only person he trusts in the end, therefore he has tried many times to save her despite him being in danger. Its clear he cares for people he loves, even if they do not have good intentions he still cares and that's very kind of him. He's been used like a puppet, but eventually grow to become a true king.
Chen Ruo Yu played by Zhang Yu Xi - her acting didn't bother me much, there are definitely parts where I felt it wasn't natural "acting" but otherwise I'm pretty satisfied with the way she acted here. The character she plays is basically like a passive character, she does not exactly take sides unless she was betrayed. She was appointed the Sword holder of the King, basically a body guard with top martial art skills. However, she doesn't kill unless that is the last option.. Also another selfless character, being used by certain people in this drama. She doesn't really remember her childhood with her sister until the last couple of episodes. She's a fast learner for sure. very good in knowing what to do in a quick, unpredictable situations.
Qiu Yan Zhi - one of my favorite characters in this drama cause of how intelligent and calculating she is. She's basically living a double life, the adopted daughter of the antagonist. But also spoiler alert sister of Chen Ruo Yu. At first she was just a confusing character because I couldn't tell whether she was a friend or foe towards Chen Ruo Yu, But in the end we found out her real motive was to avenger her grandfather & family. Everything she learned from the antagonist is used against him. There were definitely sorrowful sacrifices she had to make but in the end, she was able to fulfill her own wishes. Her relationship with Chen Ruo Yu was quite interesting because of the way she acts towards the aforementioned character. She's really nice towards CRY, always coming to her rescue along with the king. At first she says she does it for herself, but in reality she did it to protect the one she loves.
The actor playin Qiu Zhi Liang, Mickey He, was great, he just looks 100% crazy every single time he's on, sometimes I wonder if his expression was sarcastic or not. Its quite funny if you don't take him seriously. lol His character is very powerful for a eunuch because of the military soldiers he possesses and he's able control the king like a puppet. Amazing job for an antagonist honestly.
As you watch the drama, there's more antagonists unfolding, especially the characters you didn't expect to become a villain. In the end, this drama is like a strategy game - everyone trying to kill one another, usurp the throne, etc.
There's no love triangle in this drama, which is a plus. But the main characters goes through a plethora of mountains to be together.
The end was ..bittersweet. Definitely recommend if you like strategic historical dramas that keeps you on your toes.
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The drama is kind of cheesy to me,, which is the down side for me, it was very cringe-worthy to watch the actors and actresses act. I think the two SpeXial members can't act - well majority of Spexial members can't act and the female antagonist was hard to watch as well - Hannah was adorable though - dumb but at least she knew was right and wrong.. kind of. LOL I think the only watchable actor/actress was Pets Tseng.
The OST was great, I really loved Pets Tseng's "Season of Rain" ^_^ Is my bias coming out? LOL This drama made me love Pets Tseng a lot more as a singer and an actress. Of course it also made me love Lin Sam just because he is handsome. xD
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A drama adaptation of a fanfic!
I personally enjoyed the overall vibe of Speed and Love! It reminds me of one of my favorite Taiwanese dramas ever, "The Outsiders." The main focus is more about car racing which also reminds me of the Taiwanese adapted movie, "Initial D" They even have the CAR in this drama! It's very nostalgic for me hence I kept watching it! ^^Firstly, I began waching this drama because of the synopsis and not the leads or any of the actors. The only reason I even stuck to this drama was, because of the plot. LOL Unfortunately, there were a few things that bothered me while watching this drama. But let's begin with the positives first.
THE SETTING! I absolutely LOVE the setting of this drama. It's set in Thailand, and the color gradient in the drama is GORGEOUS. I love how the director plays around with light and dark as well. You can see Jiang Mu (Esther) gets bathe in the sunlight occasionally, and then there's Jin Zhao (He Yu) sitting in the dark. By the end of this drama, I think it's safe to say this drama isn't about Jiang Mu, but more about Jin Zhao's life. Whoever designed the garage needs a raise, cause they used the tire as a SINK! I LOVE IT!
Jin Zhao is played by He Yu. He was orphaned as a child for reasons you may need to watch. Anyways, he grew up with Jiang Mu and takes very good care of her. He is the GREENEST FLAG character in cdramaland of 2025. I absolutely loved his acts of service, because he takes carrots and green onion out of Jiang Mu's plate so she could eat. He notices many things about Jiang Mu, and takes care of it without her having to ask. I think I saw 2 of He Yu's side character dramas, unfortunately I don't recall how his acting was there, but his name was memorable enough for me to look him up at one point. I digress. His acting in this drama is PHENOMENAL. I LOVE IT! This man can MICROact, he moves his facial muscles and is able to express through his EYES. Even the way he moves feels like he's embodying his character so well. A lot of male actors are not able to do this, I can count on my fingers how many other actors can do this, and He Yu is definitely on the list! For me, he carried the acting in this drama. I heard that he does his own drifting(correct me if I'm wrong) and I can definitely see it in the way he drives in the drama, it's very convincing and real to me. The way he fights is also quite satisfying, and apparently he also boxes in real life! This dude can do anything at this point.
Moving on to Esther's interpretation of Jiang Mu. Firstly, I did not read the novel, so I am basing my judgement on the drama itself. Jiang Mu is the younger adopted sister of Jin Zhao. She is typically a very happy-go-lucky girl who is always running after Jin Zhao and wanting to know what has happened with him since their family separation. However, she is no damsel-in-distress, she's able to fight for herself when it's needed and she's determined to get to the bottom of things when she sets her mind to it. She is also academically smart, possibly due to Jin Zhao's motivation. lol It feels like her world revolves around Jin Zhao, not her parents, not even her half-sibling. I honestly wish there was more half-sibling bond, but alas.
Acting wise, I think Esther's portrayal of a 18-year-old seems a lot more childish than one may be. I also think her acting from 1 to 19 was giving very "rookie actress" vibes because of the forced expressions, blank expressions with big boba but also blank eyes, or comedic expressions like when she's suddenly shocked: big eyes open and that's it. I thought for a second, it's the way the scene was edited - cause it just felt off when she suddenly had that expression on.
When Jiang Mu was driving or drifting, Esther's facial expression wasn't really there as oppose to how He Yu does it. I do not know how to describe what Esther was showing from my POV, but I know for sure she was not driving. lol There was a scene where she got out of the car all cutely which I thought was uneccesary. It just you'd think she would act "cool" cause she's drifting and all, but she didn't bring any of that charisma that I had expected of her. I was really hoping to see more of Jiangmu drifting, but unfortunately she only did it briefly all for Jin Zhao.
The first 19 episodes was difficult to watch Esther act as Jiangmu, but I pushed myself through it because I thought perhaps this is just her interpretation of a teenager and maybe it will get better as she grows up. Jiang Mu is not extremely cutified by Esther, but there is some cuteness trait to it because she's able to let loose and be comfortable acting like that around Jin Zhao. It sometimes it had me thinking whether or not the character is embodying Esther herself instead of the other way around.
Otherwise, she seemed okay around other side characters. I really enjoyed her portrayal in episode 19, granted it took some heartbreak to see it. Other than that, I don't think Esther's acting was terrible, nor was it amazing. I have seen a few of her dramas and many of her dramas are hit and misses for me. This was in the middle, I think she could've done better. I also think the drama fell off after Jiang Mu came back to Nanjing, I was getting bored by this point as there wasn't anything exciting left to watch.
Despite of this, the CHEMISTRY between the leads were intense, I think they looked good together!
Since the drama was cut short, there were a few scenes that came out of no where and it was quite confusing. I also have a problem with the SCRIPT! There were many times where I'm like wtf is wrong with this script, it's so cringe or it doesn't make any sense! Especially the lines given to Mike D'Angelo! WHO GAVE HIM THOSE CRINGEY AF LINES?! We need to talk!! "I like Chinese women" 'I like handsome men"- Jiang Mu. And then they wanted to cover the dog's eyes because Jiang Mu thinks it may be able to tell someone that they're dating or whatever I don't remember what she said exactly, but I thought that line was stupid. Who WROTE THAT?!
I would recommend this drama if you enjoy fanfic-like romances.
However, if you want a good script, I don't think this will fulfill that itch for you.
If you're a sentimental, and nostalgic kind of person, this may be up your alley due to the setting of the drama.
Also if you love Initial D or any car racing movie or drama - Give this drama a try!
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Enthralled From Beginning Until the End!
From the very first episode until the end, "Blossom" kept my eyes glued to the screen. Every single second, and scene was captivating. Every single character in this drama played their part well, and was very important to get this drama skyrocketing to it's current popularity.Meng Zi Yi has been working really hard as a supporting actress for many years, and I've seen her in a plethora of dramas. I'm very happy to see her main role in "Blossom" do so incredibly well! It has been a long time coming for her, I'm really happy that she got the breakthrough she has so long worked for. Meng portroyed Dou Zhao very naturally and I love the power she gives to the character. Dou Zhao was given a second chance of life, and she did not waste a single drop of knowledge in her second life. She fought hard and well to protect Song Mo and the people she loves and cares for. Despite many enemies wanting her dead, she was able to weave her way out even without Song Mo. She's not your average mistress in distress FL, she's a heroine in this drama. She's, as Song Mo stated, the strategist and reinforcement of his life. She would do anything to protect Song Mo, and vice versa!
Moving on to Li Yun Rui. I've only seen him in "Love Like The Galaxy," and boy was he annoying in that drama for me. However, he redeemed himself in "Blossom" and has become an actor that I won't skip on his next project, that's only if the synopsis is good. lol I digress. Li Yun Rui embodied Song Mo very well. He showcased what Song Mo is all about - justice and love. He will always fight for justice, and is not afraid to tell the emperor how disappointed he is when justice is not served. And also put two princes in their place. LOL Of course, he would protect Dou Zhao as much as he can. Li Yun Rui's ability to act with micro expression can be quite comedic in a good way. There are definitely moments where he needs to work on his acting just a tad bit. But overall, everything he did was very natural and I didn't notice anything off at the very least. Song Mo's life is quite depressing because he was hated by his father for secret reasons. I like that the drama makes you question the stupidity of the elders and everyone involved but then when the truth comes out - it all makes sense. I almost dropped this drama because I thought the father was being ridculous for absolute no reason. LMAO But all is well, you just have to keep watching to know and understand everything!
"Blossom" feels like it follows the life of both Dou Zhao and Song Mo from their 2nd life meeting, courtship, marriage, kids, and life onwards. I really enjoyed watching every moment of this drama, except for maybe some political parts but I digress. There was barely any angst between the main leads, which indiciates that not every drama needs ANGST! *cough* Even without angst, it still kept the audience engaged. There are many dramas I've watched this year that fell short mid way or even towards the end. However, "Blossom" was the opposite. Even the last 4 episodes kept me on my toes, I was screaming, engaged, did not blink, oh my god, the battle was phenomennal and intense!
I like that the drama included a gun and a clock. Both of which you don't see often in Ming Dynasty dramas, it was a nice touch that I couldn't help but notice. :]
"Blossom" was about Dou Zhao and Song Mo's fight to protect the righteousness of the throne. People either want them dead or want them on their side.
I would definitely recommend this drama if you like a wholesome marriage between leads, smart heroine, and strong yet resilient hero, amazing plot, and great screenwriting and directory.
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Life is unpredictable!
Blossoms in Adversity main focus isn't really about the love story, the focus is moreso on the family and their growth through difficulties.Due to a petty king, Hua Family was exiled and reduce to commoners from their high wealth status.
Their oldest granddaughter, Hua Zhi, eventually becomes the head of the family to take control of their lifestyle. Zhang Jingyi played Hua Zhi quite well and very convincing. I've seen several of her dramas, and honestly she's not phenomenal but she has improved from her early day until now. Hua Zhi is a very strong-willed, independent main female character. She knows what she wants, she holds her family together through difficulties and hardships. She is quite smart and I love that she doesn't care about what the public thopught of her and her family. At the end of the day, what motivates her are is her family and bringing home the exiled family members. I have watched a few of Zhang Jingyi's dramas over the years, I think she's a natural actress, everything she has acted in was quite natural and conforms nicely to the character she plays.
The love interest of Hua Zhi is Gu Yan Xi acted by Hu Yi Tian. Gu Yan Xi lives a double life in this drama, or tries to. Although one would think he's evil to the core but from the get-go you can see that he's someone who stands up for what is right. Unfortuantely, he also has to protect someone because he has no autonomy otherwise he would be slaughtered like most of his family. His love for Hua Zhi was seen from the beginning, you would see it in his actions where he would always be her shining knight in armor.
Hu Yi TIan's acting was quite a disappointment but not a surprise. I've seen him in other dramas, he has not changed from his early years to this drama. Hu does not use his facial muscles like other actors who also plays stoic characters. You would think there's some eye acting, but not really. His face is just.. .BLANK majority of the time. He has three distiguishable faces: pokeface aka blank face, smile happy face, and finally the shooketh face which literally looks like this every time he's shocked O_O. Sometimes when there's something that is shocking, his face doesn't even do anything. It was really HORRENDOUS to watch him. He was the reason why I did not want to watch this drama when it first came out because I would be very annoyed with the way he "acts." At this rate, he's more of a eye candy actor, not an actual actor. Fortunately, the martial choreography was quite nice and the storyline isn't really focused on his character compare to the females'.
A character that stood out to me is Shao Yao (Lu Yu Xiao) because she not only went through something traumatic, it seems she was also on the spectrum. It reminded me of how Park Eun Bi acted as an autistic character. Lu Yu Xiao nailed her role quite well. This is the second drama I've watched of hers, and we all know how amazing she was in MJTY and in this drama as well. I really hope she is one of the rare actresses who is willing to try out different roles, because so far it definitely showcased a lot of her acting abilities. I digress, Shao Yao is such an adorable character, she's also self aware of how her brother, Gu Yan Xi, and Hua family treats her: like a porcelein doll. However, she managed to find a very nice friend, Shen Huan (Biang Cheng), who didn't treat as such, and treated her like a normal human being, a friend. It was very heartwarming to see Shao Yao light up whenever Shen Huan shows up because their relationship was so innocent and adorable. I was rooting for the happy ending more than the main leads. lol
There were several veterans in this drama, most notably Myolie Wu. I honestly thought her character was going to be so annoying throughout the drama. lol The king in this drama was very annoying, he's very paranoid and petty so I will jsut leave at that.
I think the moral of this drama has taught me resilience is the best form of survival through difficult times. There will always be a solution even if you've fallen from the top. Which is exactly what Hua Zhi did to get her family back on their feet.
I would like to highlight how much i LOVE the OSTs in this drama, I haven't been hearing good music from cdramas for the past couple of months and this drama definitely have one of the bests OSTs out there, imo.
Blossoms of Adversity is definitely a must watch if you love 2010s cdramas of focusing on a female character's life through hardships to get to the top of the pyramid. It's a female centered drama where all the men are exiled, and the women needs to fend for themselves lest death of starvation.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is a remake and another adaption of a novel. Although I never read the novel, I did watch a previous adaption. There were definitely some scenes I love here and scenes that I wish they added.What I like about the drama is the cinematography, the scenery and different palaces and underground caves, etc. Its a huge upgrade from the last 2005 adaption of course. Yi Hua Gong actually looks like a gong for sure - it's so pretty! The two Yi Hua Masters are the same as the 2005 adaption but too bad we don't see much of the The 2nd Master's kindness in action here.
Xiao Yuer is a self-proclaimed no.1 smartest man in Jianghu. His personality is quite fun to watch, he's cunning and is a sweet talker. He's able to get what he wants, although sometimes he makes it a little too dramatic. I initially thought the actor playing Xiao Yuer seemed good but I soon realize there were a bit of over-reacting in some areas. However, he's still young so there is room for improvement.
Hua Wu Que is your typical handsome man in every drama. A powerful one I might add. His mission was to kill his own brother unknowingly. When the two became friends is the start of Wu Que becoming a normal human with feelings - although he likes to hide it a lot. We see Wuque and Xiao Er bond as friends, but we barely seem them bond as brothers. I did not see a connection there. Not even after it was confirmed they were brothers, they didn't even call each other "哥" or "弟" :( There was even one scene I was looking forward to that was in the previous adaption, I was hoping it would be in here as it happens after they found out they were brothers. It would have showcased how much they love being brothers and how heartbroken if one had died. But it didn't happen because in this version, one of them died differently.
Speaking of Hua Wu Que, the actor Hu Yi Tian needs to work hard on his acting. He lacks expressions, and even if he expressed something it always come off as unconvincing aside from his smiles. I don't feel any connection with him and Tie Xin Lan. I always felt like Tie XIn lan loved Xiao Yuer from beginning til the near end of the drama.
Overall, the acting is not amazing, but tolerable.
As for the romance in this drama, there's barely any between the main leads unless you wanna watch angst until the last episode or so. That's when each brother accepted their love for their woman respectively. The supporting characters like Hei Zhizhu and Meng jiu had better love story than the main leads. haha
The way Xiao Yuer and Hua Wu Que found out they were brothers was a bit anticlimactic for me. What if she was lying? You never know from someone who wants all of her former one-sided love's family dead. :/
I would recommend this drama if you haven't watched the previous adaptions, although be warned it can get draggy.
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A feast for your eyes! Not perfect though..
Love in Pavillion has to be the highest budget xianxia drama of the year, because the CGI! THE. CGI!! IS OVER THE ROOF! It's so good to the point that each episode felt like a movie! Not to mention the amazing CAST, filled with recently popular actors and actresses. What's not to love about this drama?Liu Shishi (Dongfang Huai Zhu) is an actress that I've been watching since Chinese Paladin 3, granted there's a huge gap of her dramas that I haven't watched that I won't go into detail. I digress, I cannot picture much of her facial expressions in acting other than being stoic. Whether or not it's her character, the way she portrayed her character was quite boring for a lack of a better word. Her evil arc was good, but then it went back to be stoic expressions. I rarely see some microexpressions coming from her and I really expected that from a veteran in the industry. Unfortunately, her acting disappointed me. However, her martial choreography was beautifully done and I applause her for it! I even had to repeat a couple scenes, because it felt looked very crisp and invigorating.
Same goes for Leon Zhang's character. I mean his character was more expressive than Liu Shishi's, but there wasn't any acting that truly hit me as if, "WOW, this is amazing acting!" There was one scene that is suppose to be heartbreaking to watch, but I guess it didn't seem convincing enough for me? Granted, I did know he was heartbroken, and depressed, etc. But something was missing in that scene. I don't know if he improved in acting or not, as the one and only drama I've seen of his was from 2017. He is quite handsome though ngl. lol
With these two together as leads, I don't know if it's the acting or the script or even the directing, but the romance between them just fell flat for me. I did not see much chemistry between them, it just felt ilke two wooden planks talking to each other. I don't know, just a boring couple.
Aside from the main leads, I like to think the supporting cast filled with current popular actors and actress, carried this drama pretty hard.
There has to be something wrong if I prefer the secondary, tertiary, and even the VILLAIN'S love story over the main leads'.
My favorite couple from the beginning was Yang Yi Tan(Zhai Xiao Wan) and Wangquan Zui (Wu Xuan Yi These two fill the friends to lovers trope. I love how they met, grew up together, and one is always protecting the other, etc. It just uuggh I loved these two so much. LOL They had such good chemistry and bond. I demand another drama with these two together! The acting was very natural especially coming from idols to actors!
Another favorite couple is, I think it's everyone's fav at this point, Zhang Zheng (Ding Yu Xi) and Qi Muyuan (Meng Zi Yi). Their love story is more of a chasing after the one you love kind of story with some angst. It was cute when they do end up together and such. I don't want to spoil too much, but Meng Ziyi's is the more bubbly, outspoken character while Yu Xi's character is more stoic (except he displays microexpressions! ) and somewhat dark character.
Noteable mention is Charles Lin. Dude is handsome, his eyes can slice you within a second! Anyways, his acting was satisfactory imo. What stood out for me is his character's love story. It just felt like "US AGAINST THE WORLD" but make it dark and evil. I just loved it and wanted to mention that. lol
Shen Yue's character, Dongfang Qinlan, the younger sister of Dongfang HuaiZhu is pretty much a very bubble, incessantly annoying little sister - possibly overprotective -but-can't-protect-kind of sister. I suppose she's written to be a comedic relief? Regardless, there was something about Shen Yue's acting that threw me off every time she's on screen. It just felt like she's acting a screen play - that feeling when you know someone is just acting instead of embracing their character and acting naturally. I think this is the same acting style she portrayed in MG and ALSB. I just never enjoyed the way she acted, some may love it, but I did not.
Aside from the CGI and great ensemble of a cast, I think the music was really good, I'm definitely adding it to the list. The compositing of the scenery was nice to see, the directing of scenes was good as well. Post production did a great job here! :]
I think what kept me watching is how this felt like I was watching old xianxia dramas, just like a recently finished drama, "A Demon Hunter's Romance" both dramas felt like the early years of xianxia and it;s definitely my cup of tea instead of the usual predictable gods, goddess, endless reincarnation stuff.
Was it a happy ending? *spoilerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* n *spoilerrrrrrrr* o *spoiler * p *spoiler e but I kind of expected this as not all xianxia are going to have happy endings.
Would I recommend it? If you want to watch it for main leads, I wouldn't think it's the best drama. But for the overall cast, yes definitely. And the martial arts choreography? Heck yes, watch it, The CGI?! FEAST FOR YOUR EYES!
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It had potential but lost it
Mei lin lost her parents in a fire plotted by one of the royal family.Jinghe has been wrongly accused of causing the massacre of Qingzhou
Both decided to work together when Meilin found out who the real culprit is.
Honestly, the drama started very well! The back and forth schemes between the crown prince and Jinghe had me on the edge of my seat. Unfortunately, after the big bad wolf was taken down, the drama seemed to have fallen off for me. lol
A lot of the actors played their part well:
Liu Xue Yi became a psycho maniac guy to a loving husband. I've only watched one of his dramas thus far, but this drama definitely showcase the variety of techniques he's able to bring to the drama. His eyes has so much emotion in them, he didn't need to talk. LOL This is what I think is a really good actor who can move their facial muscles even as cold, stoic person. Not many actors can do this, Liu is an exception.
Wu Jin Yan also did quite well. i guess I watched too many of her dramas since Yanxi Palace and this drama just felt similar. Her acting is neither terrible nor pheneomal here. It didn't have much of a wow factor for me. I think her action scenes were beautiful though, I loved every action stunt she displayed.
One of the outstanding actors I would say in this dramas has to be Baron Chen who played Xuanliu, the crown prince.
Maybe I am biased as I've been a fan of his acting since Fated to Love You (classic) and damn... I must say he did a PHENOMENAL job as the villain. The variety of emotions he has displayed from innocence, anger, love, etc. His acting had me pausing during the climax of the drama because it was thrilling and NERVE-RACKING to see who would win. For once, I am satisfied with a villain's death.
The king and Princess Yan's relationship was cute - albeit I can't help but think in the back of my mind how wrong it is. I had to constantly remind myself ancient China had concubines as young as her.. and it was fine back then. Regardless, I did like the King in this drama because he seems to have emotion that no other kings would displayhe was quite gentle and caring.
Once again, this drama started off quite strong, it had purpose and when that purpose was done -there was about ...6 episodes left and I just skipped most of the scenes. I thought the drama should've ended at episode 26 instead of 32. However, I suppose the leads had to wrap up loose ends with Qingzhou, and their relationship.
Would I recommend it?
If you like action scenes, thrill, schemes, sure. But if you don't want to waste your time, I'd suggest stopping at episode 26 or so. LOL
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A drama with incredible revenge plot and complex characters.
When I read the synopsis of this drama, it didn't seem to appealing to me but watching the first episode definitely caught my attention. It was dark, it was intense, and whoa.. what an opening to a drama! Definitely did not regret continuing to watch every single episodes as it aired!To me, what really sets this drama apart from others is the three dimensional characters, including the antagonists. Each and every important character in this drama has a background story. In the beginning, you really need to keep an open mind, and be empathetic instead of being so biased and narrow-minded. Many viewers may just be here for the slow-burn romance, but I like watching dramas with characters that are complex. And honestly, I talked about the villains more than the protagonists with my friends because it was just so fun to break down and learn about their psyche and why they're acting the way they are. I was rooting for the protagonists don't get me wrong. But the villains were just so intriguing! Of course, I hated some of them but in the end, we understand why they were like that.
I think the most appalling thing that I read in the comments is what the Princess had to go through vs Xue Fang Fei. It's almost very stupid for people to compare and think one is worse than the other. And one deserves more love than the other.
Both of them went through traumatic experiences, and they are validated! The way they act upon really differs, and you can't deny there are people who would become evil because of their environment and the way they were raised. All the villains in this drama turned out the way they are because of their past experience, the environment, and whoever influenced them.
There's even some steady character growth for an antagonist and I loved this drama for it.
Xue Fang Fei is an incredibly intelligent woman in this drama, yes she stole the identity of a dead girl (Jiang Li) but she has empathy. She's doing it for both of them. She honors the identity she has stolen, unlike other dramas where the protagonist just steals the indentity and not even think about it. Xue Fang Fei not only gave justice to Jiang Li but also revenge. Of course, that wasn't the only revenge she has done. In the process of fighting for justice of her own, she has found someone who knew her identity all along. Someone who respects her and truly cares for her.
This someone is Xiao Heng. Xiao Heng is a mysterious guy who is always there to save Fang Fei's life. But he's also quite observant, calculative, and of course powerful. We don't really know his real plan until the end, and honestly if people want to compare him with Fang Fei's ex and why he did the deed in the begining. It's best to understand who has nearly everything and connections, and who doesn't especially in historical China.
The acting overall in this drama was incredible; ablet sometimes I wonder why there wasn't any tears in some actors while they're crying. I have seen a few of Wu Jinyan dramas and I feel like she is the same? Just great acting; nothing to mind blowing for me though. A sfor the main actor, Wang Xing Yue, I've only seen one of his dramas but it wasn't enought o dicpher if he's has improved or not. In this drama, he's most acting with his eyes, micro expressions which I quite like as well.
Notable mention is CHEN QIAO EN! OH MY GOD! I've been watching her act since I was little, she's one of my favorite actresses EVER. Just when I tbought she couldn't get any better, she proved me wrong! HER MICROEXPRESSIONS AS A VILLAIN!! HELLO? Those psychopathetic smiles and I was getting goosebumps cause of her. BRAVO!
Needless to say, it was an an amazing drama. I would definitely recommend if you enjoy watching schemes, revenge plots, second chance of life, and slow-burn romance.
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I just finished this drama and its officially one of my favorites! This drama has a lot to do with college life school work, relationships, dealing with future worries and then there's abandonment, self-growth, plagiarism consequences to both sides, etc. I am in love with the quotes each episode had. This drama touches upon topics that makes you thinking deeply about your life. Its very meaningful and deep. The main story is a focused on a happy, college campus couple. We going through a period of happiness, to heartbroken and angst and back to unsure of future between the two. It also focuses on the other supporting actors/actress whcih were quite funny so they gave us the comedic relief but was being realistic as well. Main actress was a JYP trainee but I think she made a great decision to go into acting. She acted very natural, and I did not feel irritated like I do with actors/actress that exaggerate or obviously terrible at acting. I was in love with her clothing style - its something I would wear - well not the business part of it but the casual style. Her character was more mature and serious compare to the male. As for the male lead actor, he acted natural and great as well. I loved his character's personality - was very opstimistic and positive all the time. May be annoying at first but you'd get use to it and call him CUUUUUUTE! cause of his loving smile. Okay. The one thing I dislike is the second male lead being persistent with the ring and all. I mean its great he doesn't give up, but there's a fine line between not giving up and when to give up. And he already crossed it after the third try... Anyways, all in all I recommend this drama if you want something natural and meaningful to watch. Definitely read the quotes and pay attention to t he monologues.
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Gorgeous World With Amazing Cast
Whether or not Moonlight Mystique is good is quite debatable. For me, there are some reasons it wasn't good, while others made up for it.Let's begin with the acting.
Bai Lu plays the main female character, Bai Shuo, in Moonlight Mystique she is a multi-faceted character and Bai Lu has done a wonderful job at showcasing each and every emotion. From very annoying, brat and stubborn girl who wants to become immortal, the body switch plot, to a divine being full of love and willing to protect her love ones at all cost. I've watched Bai Lu for years and honestly her acting doesn't disappoint. Bai Shuo's story was a tragic one but at least she had someone at side by the end. Bai Shuo isn't your typical mistress in distress, however, she overestimates her own power, thus she would exert herself to protect Fan Yue.
Ao Rui Peng played the imposing Demon Lord, Fan Yue. Fan Yue's story was also a tragic one, in fact everyone's storyline was very tragic, very typical of xianxia dramas. Despite rumors of how scary and imposing Fan Yue, he is actually very soft hearted demon who helps his people as well as those who are close to him. He is very, VERY protective of Bai Shuo. Honestly, I lost the amount of times he sacrificed his life for Bai Shuo. This is my second drama of Ao Rui Peng and he did a great job actually, nothing too awkward, but you can totally tell this is his first romance focused drama with kiss scenes. Anyhow, I hope he gets more main roles in the future. I don't know if this is a tidbit of Ao Rui Peng or his character direction, but the way he hugs Bai Shuo (and some other character I shall not name) was very heartwarming and cozy-looking. I like the way he nudges their heads like. It was just something I had notice because it shows that his hugs were very genuine.
What I like about Moonlight Mystique is each arc has great plots with amazing acting from each side character. Tragic stories but amazing acting nonetheless.
Dai Lu Wa portrayed the demoness, Fuling. Honestly, after her true identity was discovered, I kind of wish she was kept alive just to surprise the audience. Yes, she was the most unremorseful character in the beginning but I forgave her pretty quick. I think Dai Lu Wa did a great job portraying the diferent perspectives of Fu Ling. Her emotions felt raw and poignant, it really tugged on my heartstrings sometimes. This is my second drama of Dai Lu Wa, the last drama I've watched of hers was from 2018 so this drama has showcased the massive improvement in her ability to enact such strong emotions. I would definitely continue to watch more of her dramas from now on.
Turtle Shifu aka Lao Gu was really funny. The actor, Li Yu, did a pheneomenal job giving the character such amazing personality. I loved him the most!
Chang Hua Sen played Chong Zhao. This is my first drama of Chang Hua Sen and my first impression of his acting was very positive. His emotions were very natural; albeit he was very annoying in the beginning, but I digress. I think when the story changed later on, I did take notice of his character's good and bad sides. He acted them out pretty naturally that you'd think it would've been twins acting out instead. lol
Notable mentions would be the actress and actor of Ling Long and Rong Xun (Pan Jun Ya and Quan Yi Lun respectively.) Out of all the side quests the main characters went on, I am still stuck on Ling Long and Rong Xun. It's mostly because these two acted very well, and I really wish to see them as leads some day - their chemistry was amazing and the acting was very natural!
The cinamatography, and CGI of this drama was pheneomenal! I really enjoy watching the CGI the most, the colors were beautiful! Everything just looked very realistic. This is coming from watching The Last Immortal right before watching Moonlight Mystique. The editing and the CGI in TLI was horrendous while Moonlight Mystique's was amazing. I do blame the post-production team for that so it's not the actors' fault. But it is something I cannot stress enough about, it just shows that MM was a high budget drama.
Something else I quite like about this drama was that it's not your typical demons are bad, immortals are good drama. In this drama, it tells us that not all demons wants to kill everyone or are bad. While not all immortals are good people either, and they can also live like they're homeless ngl. In contrast, the demon palaces were GORGEOUS! The most gorgeous demon lair of all xianxia dramas I've ever seen! I loved the color combinations of the floors, walls, and furnitures, etc.
Now for the reasons why I did not truly enjoy this drama to the fullest.
It was just too predictable! Literally, I've never been able to predict what could happen from the beginning to end of a xianxia drama. There would be something that surprises you. In this drama, the obvious people were already there instead of keeping us guessing. So yes, this is your typical xianxia drama - everyone dies - some will not but most will. I just wished they kept at least one more person alive just to surprise the audience but nah, the directors just wanted everyone dead. *rolling my eyes* I just hate that it's so cliche, I didn't want to keep being right but here we are. What's new?
It took me 17 episodes to get into the drama because some plots were a little confusing because it didn't make sense at all! Some characters were conveniently there for the plot, it was weird - difficult for me to explain why honestly.
Nonetheless, I barely skipped an episode - I was very eagered to watch Moonlight Mystique. Would I recommend it? If you really enjoy watching xianxia dramas with really good CGI and action scenes then yes, please watch it. if you don't want a predictable, cliche drama then no, watch something else.
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