"I hope I can wow everyone" - You did!
As a big Bai Lu fan I was stoked to see the IQIYI trailer and have been waiting for Moonlight Mystiques release.And boy, she did not disappoint. Even after watching several of her works (Love is Sweet, The Legends, Only for Love, Till the End of the Moon) where she delivered amazing chemistry with her co-actors and outstanding acting, I have to say Moonlight Mystique is her best work so far. And my favorite. Loved her diverse costumes and her wide range of emotions here. She did the all the crying scenes soo well (and there were many). I think Bai Shuo as a character was well written and 100 % consistent throughtout the whole storyline. Strong, supportive, confident. But also full of love, grief and feeling helplessness.
I have also watched Ao Ruipeng's Wrong Carriage , Right Groom with Tian Xiwei, though he didn't stand out to me acting and looks-wise. But here, damn, he did soo well!! From his eyes to his smiles to the way he spoke to his looks, costumes and movements. I was captivated. They styled him really well and it brought out his defining features! I have no idea H O W they kept making him more attractive after each time he "came back". Fan Yue as a charcter was well fleshed out, had a wide range of emotions and they gave him such a big heart!! He knows what he wants and he goes for it without hesitation. And he communicates well too. Man!!!
Life gave him (and Bai Shuo) many many lemons and they handled it so well together AND individually too!
Bai Shuo and Fan Yue have a really healthy relationship and lots of tacit understanding, which is refreshing to see and already a big difference from the usual xianxia setting. No Misunderstandings, no real love triangle. Just a plain supportive, affectionate (you get plenty of lovely scenes) couple. A BIIG bonus to me is also the fact that they equally sacrifice & support each other. Often you will find a big power imbalance in xianxia dramas where either the Male Lead or the Female Lead sacrifice too much, while the other party barely gets the chance to do something in return.
But where there is a healthy relationship, there is also a toxic one. Or at least at the start it was, because this is how the story of Fu Ling and Chong Zhao began. But unlike Bai Shuo's and Fan Yue's relationship (theirs were good but already really stable), there is quite a progression in theirs. Fu Ling, is cold and cruel. Chong Zhao is idealistic and almost unsure in the beginnings. But then those two had to change their whole world view, healing each other slowly on the way. The result is a relationship that feels so hopeful, it's too pure to bear. I rooted for them so much and was suprised how much I grew to like Fu Ling.
Now, while I have to admit that I was able to guess a lot of big developements in the storyline, the plot kept me thoroughly engaged and entertained. To me, MM is a beautiful story about hardship, growing stronger, perseverance, love (several types!), friendship and sacrifice. It's quite a tearjerker and especially the last few episodes left me crying so hard, I couldn't breathe. I think all the emotional scenes were portrayed very well by the whole cast, not just the main characters. What also helped was probably the fact that the characters were written extremely well with lots of depth and different (most of the times even conflicting) emotions.
The ending istself was quite satisfying to me and definititely conclusive (no open ending), though like most of the xianxia dramas, I would have love to see a little more. HOWEVER! We got a lovely bonus episode which definitely healed the big gaping hole in my heart after watching this wonderful drama.
I think it's hard to find another drama in this year that is as good as Moonlight Mystique (and the only drama I watched so far this year was "Blossom", which was also extremely well exectured).
20/10 for me.
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