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This review may contain spoilers
Tragic but a beautiful story
To sum up, the story is about a group of masked heroes trying to keep the peace between demon and human race and their leader Hong Ye (Ba Ye) in donghua) and his love Dongfang Huaizhu. As a person who both watched donghua and the drama , I found story good. It was not perfect and there were plot holes of course but in donghua , it was like a brief story. No deep characterization , no deep feelings not a proper story. Therefore , I liked how they deepened and enriched the characters and made them alive without changing their cores. I liked how each of them had a story to tell it. If you didn't like main couple and were interested in side couples( there were four couples) , you can keep watching it since side couples had their own story.
Almost everyone don't prefer watching this drama because of its ending ( all main characters died very tragically ( except two people) but the donghua and manhua itself has this one. I know it is heart breaking and tearjecker but you should watch this one to understand better other parts( especially to Sword and Beloved) cuz LIP is beginning the story of them.
The drama includes many sub stories and some parts were very draggy for me when I watched the first time like dark era of FL , time travelling etc. but later I noticed that each sub story gives characters a message to be mature. You can see how their hopes and opinions changed episode by episode.
The only thing I didn't like was 34-36 episodes. It was too fast and I felt that I was in a time skip loop.
Acting /Cast
It was my first time to watch main leads and I liked their chemistry. Some pple say Fl has a serious face all the time and Ml is not handsome. I don't agree with both opinions. Huaizhu is a person who had to grow up fast as first child of fam because of her mom's death and you can't expect her to be energetic or talkative. She is a mature person despite her age and I liked this maturity. For Ml , I don't know how people define handsome but he was really eye candy espcially with his make up , elegant clothes and hair style. Before commenting on his acting , you should definitely watch from 34-36 episodes cuz he really cooked in these episodes. ( survival trauma , guilt , losing loved ones etc). Other actresses and actors were also great. From the guests to support characters , they were all expreienced and very talanted. Not only their visuals but also their actings served.
Music
The ost was perfect but there is one song ( Like Smoke) that I fell in love. It reminds me all the pain and love all the characters had whenever I listen. I even added to my fav ones and regulary listen whenever I have overthink moments :)
Rewatch Value
It depends on the taste but this drama is one of my Roman Empires so I can't be objective. All I can say is that it is a good choice whenever you want to cry but it is not a good choice for viewers who wants to get away from unpredictable things and world cuz the drama itself is a chaos.
Overall
Apart from its comedic parts and main story itself , the thing that impress me most is how our two main leads are mature , smart , devoted but both of them have grey area and know how to prioritize the things and people. Both of them are brave enough to sacrifice their loves and even their family for other people. Huaizhu knew that she didn't have enough time to live after she had a baby who carries two strongest weapons but she decided to do it because it was a good way to defeat Black Fox despite she loved Hongye very much. Hong Ye also deserves a prize cuz it is almost impossible to keep sane after all the deaths he witnessed. Man was like walking dead at the end but he kept living for his son , for his revenge , for other people and races' lives. And his love for Huaizhu was beyond all.
Side note : I am not sure this is the right place to write it but for the ones who will watch Sword and Beloved , please watch LIP to understend Hongye's decisions and behaviors to his son cuz this is the drama who shapes Hongye's personality, decisons and trauma. I know he will get too much hate for his behaviors but don't forget he has destinied to lose his loved ones and he experienced very tragically in LIP that he can't change this fate no matter what he does. He is not a green flag dad but no one can claim that he is evil while Black Fox is still there.
Almost everyone don't prefer watching this drama because of its ending ( all main characters died very tragically ( except two people) but the donghua and manhua itself has this one. I know it is heart breaking and tearjecker but you should watch this one to understand better other parts( especially to Sword and Beloved) cuz LIP is beginning the story of them.
The drama includes many sub stories and some parts were very draggy for me when I watched the first time like dark era of FL , time travelling etc. but later I noticed that each sub story gives characters a message to be mature. You can see how their hopes and opinions changed episode by episode.
The only thing I didn't like was 34-36 episodes. It was too fast and I felt that I was in a time skip loop.
Acting /Cast
It was my first time to watch main leads and I liked their chemistry. Some pple say Fl has a serious face all the time and Ml is not handsome. I don't agree with both opinions. Huaizhu is a person who had to grow up fast as first child of fam because of her mom's death and you can't expect her to be energetic or talkative. She is a mature person despite her age and I liked this maturity. For Ml , I don't know how people define handsome but he was really eye candy espcially with his make up , elegant clothes and hair style. Before commenting on his acting , you should definitely watch from 34-36 episodes cuz he really cooked in these episodes. ( survival trauma , guilt , losing loved ones etc). Other actresses and actors were also great. From the guests to support characters , they were all expreienced and very talanted. Not only their visuals but also their actings served.
Music
The ost was perfect but there is one song ( Like Smoke) that I fell in love. It reminds me all the pain and love all the characters had whenever I listen. I even added to my fav ones and regulary listen whenever I have overthink moments :)
Rewatch Value
It depends on the taste but this drama is one of my Roman Empires so I can't be objective. All I can say is that it is a good choice whenever you want to cry but it is not a good choice for viewers who wants to get away from unpredictable things and world cuz the drama itself is a chaos.
Overall
Apart from its comedic parts and main story itself , the thing that impress me most is how our two main leads are mature , smart , devoted but both of them have grey area and know how to prioritize the things and people. Both of them are brave enough to sacrifice their loves and even their family for other people. Huaizhu knew that she didn't have enough time to live after she had a baby who carries two strongest weapons but she decided to do it because it was a good way to defeat Black Fox despite she loved Hongye very much. Hong Ye also deserves a prize cuz it is almost impossible to keep sane after all the deaths he witnessed. Man was like walking dead at the end but he kept living for his son , for his revenge , for other people and races' lives. And his love for Huaizhu was beyond all.
Side note : I am not sure this is the right place to write it but for the ones who will watch Sword and Beloved , please watch LIP to understend Hongye's decisions and behaviors to his son cuz this is the drama who shapes Hongye's personality, decisons and trauma. I know he will get too much hate for his behaviors but don't forget he has destinied to lose his loved ones and he experienced very tragically in LIP that he can't change this fate no matter what he does. He is not a green flag dad but no one can claim that he is evil while Black Fox is still there.
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