This review may contain spoilers
I started this show for Ryan Ding – and I kept watching for Ryan Ding LOL
I started this show for Ryan Ding – and I kept watching for Ryan Ding LOL. I will give the plot credit but I won’t lie, I skipped some parts when he wasn’t on screen.
Overall, the plot was entertaining and not too dull. I was expecting it to feel repetitive because of the mortal tribulations but each one was pretty different so that was a nice surprise. That said, I did enjoy their heavenly realm time more than when they would be doing a tribulations. The demon realm was also nice because they actively knew who the other was and it was still the “heavenly realm timeline”.
I wasn’t super convinced with all the comments about Ryan Ding as a demon being the *best* version in this show, but he played a cat demon very well. I was literally screaming during the aphrodisiac scene (end of ep 33/start of ep 34). Ryan Ding literally played played like 5 different people including a body switch with the fml and a BELIEVABLE CAT DEMON. I could literally just watch him walk around in fantasy/historical costume for 5 hours.
Aside from Ryan Ding, I enjoyed the chemistry between him and Yang Chao Yue, the shows general plot cadence, and the nuance to Jin Lian’s character. Also, Xiu Ming was an antagonist in many ways, but I liked his overall story as compared to Love in the Clouds’ Situ Ling. Xiu Ming was just suppper loyal to Cang Hai since she really took him in and cared for him. I def don’t support his choices for blood thirst in the first tribulation, nor his lying in the second, but it seems like after each one he learns that his negative choices "are bad" and “improves” throughout the story. I am confused as to why he was made interim emperor though lol.
Similar to its “sister story” Love Between Fairy and Devil, the show’s plot peters out near the end. I started the show not emotionally invested and I basically stayed that way. The deaths didn’t really affect me in this show (which is kinda a plus for me tbh) but I think it’s also because death seems to not really mean anything. The main leads die in the mortal world to end up in the heavenly realm, but even in the heavenly realm the deaths just felt so abrupt so as to whether a person is really dead is always in question.
My issue with the plot specifically was:
- How did Immortal Li know about the change of the prophecy and WHEN? Was it as soon as he saw the emperor’s doom mark so then he yeeted to warn them via the next tribulation?
- The emperor was lame, predictable, and very one-dimensional. He was jealous of his better and cooler brother but also had an obsession with being the most powerful immortal in a way that just didn’t really make sense imo. He was already the leading ruler for the last 30,000 years lol.
- I still don’t understand how Chu Kong survived after losing all his primordial spirit? I am happy for a HEA but because it made no sense, I just feel like I am still missing something. Thus the ending wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been.
- Similarly, I loved Jin Luo and Zi Hui but don’t understand how he also reincarnated. The show never sets us up to understand that even after you DIE DIE, you can still be reincarnated. I thought reincarnation was only for people that “die” but their spirit is still intact, especially when both these men seem to remember if not their *entire* past, at least their love.
Overall, the plot was entertaining and not too dull. I was expecting it to feel repetitive because of the mortal tribulations but each one was pretty different so that was a nice surprise. That said, I did enjoy their heavenly realm time more than when they would be doing a tribulations. The demon realm was also nice because they actively knew who the other was and it was still the “heavenly realm timeline”.
I wasn’t super convinced with all the comments about Ryan Ding as a demon being the *best* version in this show, but he played a cat demon very well. I was literally screaming during the aphrodisiac scene (end of ep 33/start of ep 34). Ryan Ding literally played played like 5 different people including a body switch with the fml and a BELIEVABLE CAT DEMON. I could literally just watch him walk around in fantasy/historical costume for 5 hours.
Aside from Ryan Ding, I enjoyed the chemistry between him and Yang Chao Yue, the shows general plot cadence, and the nuance to Jin Lian’s character. Also, Xiu Ming was an antagonist in many ways, but I liked his overall story as compared to Love in the Clouds’ Situ Ling. Xiu Ming was just suppper loyal to Cang Hai since she really took him in and cared for him. I def don’t support his choices for blood thirst in the first tribulation, nor his lying in the second, but it seems like after each one he learns that his negative choices "are bad" and “improves” throughout the story. I am confused as to why he was made interim emperor though lol.
Similar to its “sister story” Love Between Fairy and Devil, the show’s plot peters out near the end. I started the show not emotionally invested and I basically stayed that way. The deaths didn’t really affect me in this show (which is kinda a plus for me tbh) but I think it’s also because death seems to not really mean anything. The main leads die in the mortal world to end up in the heavenly realm, but even in the heavenly realm the deaths just felt so abrupt so as to whether a person is really dead is always in question.
My issue with the plot specifically was:
- How did Immortal Li know about the change of the prophecy and WHEN? Was it as soon as he saw the emperor’s doom mark so then he yeeted to warn them via the next tribulation?
- The emperor was lame, predictable, and very one-dimensional. He was jealous of his better and cooler brother but also had an obsession with being the most powerful immortal in a way that just didn’t really make sense imo. He was already the leading ruler for the last 30,000 years lol.
- I still don’t understand how Chu Kong survived after losing all his primordial spirit? I am happy for a HEA but because it made no sense, I just feel like I am still missing something. Thus the ending wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been.
- Similarly, I loved Jin Luo and Zi Hui but don’t understand how he also reincarnated. The show never sets us up to understand that even after you DIE DIE, you can still be reincarnated. I thought reincarnation was only for people that “die” but their spirit is still intact, especially when both these men seem to remember if not their *entire* past, at least their love.
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