I understand your point and even tried to think from "she knows him since they were young" angle, but it is stil…
Yeah I get how the two of them ending up together after his behaviour could be a “big no” for a lot of people. That point of view makes more sense to me than people acting like his behaviour wasn’t a problem at all, or implying that he should be forgiven for acting that way because of his difficult childhood.
As for QL acting “under an unproven assumption, that "mind swap" can even happen”, I don’t blame him for believing what JXY told him about the mind / body swap at that point. In addition to JXY confessing the “truth” (as she viewed it at the time) and reminding QL about it, it explained JXY’s behaviour from the moment they reunited, and the phones / message board posts were additional evidence. After finding out the actual truth we can look back in retrospect and blame QL for believing JXY despite the fact that her words hadn’t been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, but that seems like a rather unfair and unrealistic standard to hold him to.
I agree that JXY didn’t do anything wrong / anything that merited being treated like that. But I also get that once QL believed that JXY wasn’t the JXY that he knew and trusted in high school, she became someone he had no reason to trust. In his eyes, she seemed like someone who had stolen his JXY’s body. To him, she seemed like a bad guy who had done something wrong and who might cause further harm to his JXY.
“violence is never an excusable option.” That I don’t agree with. When HBY tried to kill JXY (by throwing her off the roof and later by trying to convince her to commit suicide) and hurt QL, I think QL was justified when he used violence to fight HBY. And when QL choked HBY and threatened him to try to get information about XJY and the lighthouse system… I mean it was maybe illegal but IMO it wasn’t inexcusable. And when QL used his legs to choke FXX (and almost killed her), it was self-defence, so a justified use of violence and not illegal.
“But I just cannot stand any form of unjustified violence. It just shows true character of the person, and at least for me, there is rarely a redemption for a person once they choose violent route when it just wasn't needed.”
I get that. I agree that even if everything he believed at that point was true, QL still didn’t need to choke JXY in that scene and it was wrong of him to do so (although the way the actor did it was so obviously not actual choking that it removed some of the awfulness of it for me). It also seems like QL got into a lot of fights that weren’t necessary when he was in high school, so it’s a pattern of behaviour rather than a one-off. But for me he didn’t go so far astray that he could never be redeemed. And for context there have been plenty of popular dramas with MLs that I couldn’t forgive because they did go too far and didn’t redeem themselves.
"Lost You Forever" the drama is based on the novel "Lost You Forever" (that's the English title, which is different…
Agreed. It would be nice to see a better quality adaptation of Once Promised with continuity between it and LYF. But I’m not sure a faithful adaptation could be made in the current censorship environment. What I really want is a full translation of Once Promised.
iirc, Xuan Yang = Xuan Yuan / Xiyan, Xuan Mu = Sheng Nong / Chenrong, and Ling Yun = Gao Xing / Haoling.
can someone explain to me the relationship between this drama and the prequel? thanks
"Lost You Forever" the drama is based on the novel "Lost You Forever" (that's the English title, which is different from the Mandarin title) by Tong Hua, which is a sequel to her novel "Once Promised". The drama "A Lifetime of Love" is based on Once Promised. However, A Lifetime of Love was created by a different production team and a completely different set of actors. It’s not just that the names for the same places and the same characters are different between the two productions. Because the two dramas are not affiliated, there is no attempt in Lost You Forever (the drama) to create continuity with plot points in A Lifetime of Love.
For example, in A Lifetime of Love, Mu Qing Mo / Xuanyang Chuo (who is based on Princess Xuan Yuan Ba / Ah Heng in the novels) is very clearly the biological daughter of King Xuanyang (the Yellow Emperor of Xuan Yuan in the novels). That is consistent with the novels. However, in Lost You Forever the drama, the production team changed certain details from the novels to make it seem like Ah Heng is not the King of Xiyan’s biological daughter (so that Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan would not be cousins by blood).
There was a rumor on twitter last night that it may be February. Emphasis on RUMOR.
Didn’t YZ mention something a long time ago about S2 hopefully airing after the winter holidays? The national public holiday for lunar new year will run from February 10 to February 17 this year.
How good is the romance? Also, Happy Ending?Please spoil it for me!
I found some aspects of the romance to be very good (I tend to like this type of ride-or-die ML and in many scenes the leads have great chemistry), but IMO many of the moments between the leads that should have been the most romantic and intimate (e.g., kiss scenes, proposals, etc.) were disappointing and negatively impacted their chemistry.
The ending is happy, but a bit boring compared to some of the more intense parts of the drama.
I can understand why some viewers were super turned off by QL's behaviour in episode 7 when he finally came to believe that the JXY with him at that point really wasn't his JXY. Under normal circumstances, if a man chokes a woman, manhandles and threatens her, or forces her into a car against her will, the woman should prosecute the man, file a restraining order against him, hopefully never see him again, and definitely not ever let him become someone who could be her romantic partner in the future. The same would also be true if the roles were reversed.
If I were in JXY's position, I'm not sure that I would be able to forgive QL. But given the full context of both the circumstances in that episode and their relationship as a whole, I can understand why JXY was able to eventually forgive him and to even fall in love with him again later on.
In that episode, QL didn't think that the JXY in front of him was his JXY. He thought this person was something horrific. A parasitic soul that had stolen his JXY's body from his JXY. He thought she was someone who threatened his JXY's very existence, which made this person enemy #1 to him. On top of that, he was dealing with the perception that he had lost his JXY all over again, and he probably felt extremely guilty for treating this JXY so well up to this point and for not realizing the "truth" sooner (especially since JXY had already outright told him that she wasn't his JXY). He wanted to protect and do right by his JXY, and he channeled those feelings into physically and verbally threatening this other person that he believed had taken over his JXY's body (and for the record, JXY also believed that she was a different person from another world who had taken over his JXY's body). And that situation seems, to me, to be very different from any kind of real-life domestic abuse situation I can think of.
On top of all that, through the flashbacks in episode 19 and 20, we find out that the ML used intimidation and physical violence to protect his JXY from others who tried to harm her for years. In fact, that was the original foundation of their relationship and the reason JXY approached him in the first place.
Does the context make QL's behaviour okay? Objectively, it does not. In the eyes of the law he could absolutely still be prosecuted for his actions and even if he could reveal the context it wouldn't serve as an acceptable defense for what he did. But subjectively? While the context doesn't exactly make his behaviour "okay", I can see how it could potentially make his behaviour forgivable... and I can see how it could allow JXY to eventually forgive QL for the way he treated her in that episode.
I view QL's behaviour in the first few episodes in a similar light. The way he kept tabs on JXY and followed her around even after she told him to stop? That's stalking, which is a crime and objectively not okay behaviour. However, as the viewers and JXY later find out, QL is completely devoted to his role as JXY's protector. He needs to know that she's okay, and if she isn't okay then he has to do something about it to make sure that she is okay. Although that context doesn't make stalking okay (and it made me almost as uncomfortable as his behviour in episode 7), I can understand why JXY didn't end up holding it against QL later, given the circumstances.
There were a few aspects I liked (Machida Keita as teen Koenma was a pleasant surprise, even though I missed his younger form) but the best thing I can say about this adaptation is that it reminded me to go a do another re-watch of the anime, which will forever be one of the greatest of all time.
I agree with everyone who has mentioned how the pacing deeply affected the heart of this series and took away from the emotional investment and build up that made the original anime so great.
IMO, having more episodes (which could each have shorter run time) to cover Yusuke's death and resurrection, Genkai's tournament (and a recap of Yusuke's six months of training with her), and the saint beasts arc would have been perfect for a first season. The emotional pay off at the end of the saint beasts arc was so good. Then they'd have all the Toguro Brothers and Dark Tournament content available to cover properly in a second season.
Overall, could've been worse. But it also could've been a lot better.
In chapter 18 of the novel, FFB performs magic tricks where he changes the colour of XY's robes to entertain the…
Chapter 18:
The zither was playing, poems were recited, and even magic tricks were being performed for entertainment.
Xiao Yao observed and laughed “That Xing Yue sure knows how to throw a party.”
The music stopped and the platter floated to where Xiao Yao and Fang Feng Bei were standing.
Xiao Yao shrank behind Fang Feng Bei and whispered “Other than making poisons I don’t know how to do anything else.”
Fang Feng Bei smiled, picked up the wine and downed it, then lazily bowed to everyone “I’ll do some magic!”
Fang Feng Bei pointed to Xiao Yao “Go stand over there.”
With everyone’s eyes on her, Xiao Yao stiffly walked over.
Fang Feng Bei picked a white flower and waved the flower dew on Xiao Yao who made an annoyed face at him and whispered, “If you dare toy with me, I’ll get you back for this!”
The moment she said that, the white flower dew spread like a dye on her robe and turned it from a yellow robe into a white one.
A girl laughed. “Another color?”
Fang Feng Bei asked, “What color?”
The girl picked a purple flower and sent it to Fang Feng Bei who ripped the petals and tossed the dew on Xiao Yao’s robe. The purple flower dew turned into a dye and gradually spread over the robe, turning it into a purple color.
Everyone was amused, especially the girls who loved to be pretty, so by now Xing Yue, Zhuan Xu, Feng Long, Jing, Hou, and Yi Yang were all standing by the river and clapping along.
Fang Feng Bei used a green flower to transform Xiao Yao’s robe into a green one. He could see Xiao Yao’s hand was clenched into a fist with her impatience so he turned to the audience with a smile. “That’s it for today.”
Feng Long tossed a red flower over to Bei. “Make one more, a red one!” All the outfits were beautiful on Xiao Yao but perhaps his first time seeing her was so impactful as she wore the red ceremonial dress but she didn’t seem to like red and never wore that color again after the ceremony.
Fang Feng Bei smiled. “The birthday boy’s request” and made one more outfit as he splashed the red flower dew on Xiao Yao and her robe gradually changed into red. Xiao Yao’s patience was at its end and she didn’t have any hint of a smile but forced herself to take a bow so she opened her arms and twirled once in a circle before curtsying to Feng Long, indicating the game was ended. She turned to leave.
A sharp loud scream cut through the air and a young girl had her hands clapped over her mouth as she stared with her face stark white at Xiao Yao. A young man sitting under the tree slowly stood up and glared balefully at Xiao Yao.
Back then, they were both so small, but that nightmare scenario they would never forget. That devil who destroyed their entire tribe also wore a red robe, and he also had eyes that didn’t seem to care about anything or anyone. Faced with the pleading of their fathers and brothers, he only coldly looked towards the distance.
Xiao Yao glanced at the girl who screamed and the girl lowered her head to avoid Xiao Yao’s stare but her body was shaking uncontrollably but it wasn’t visible since she was behind a flower stalk.
Xiao Yao and Fang Feng Bei returned to the guest rest chambers and Feng Long and Zhuan Xu walked in behind them.
Xing Yue and Yi Yang sidled up to Fang Feng Bei and Yi Yang wheedled, “Dear second brother, teach us your trick!”
Fang Feng Bei laughed and pointed to Xiao Yao. “It’s temporary so of no use to learn.”
Xiao Yao’s red robe was gradually fading in color to reveal the original yellow robe. Xing Yue and Yi Yang sighed, it really was useless to learn this trick.
Girls who love XL, I thought about this today: I used to wonder why XL is so poor and doesn't even have tea where…
In chapter 18 of the novel, FFB performs magic tricks where he changes the colour of XY's robes to entertain the guests at Feng Long's birthday party. It seems like he is the only person who knows how to perform that trick (i.e., it's not something that every deity or demon can do). I'll post the excerpt under a spoiler cover.
this heavenly tribe is like human tribes. They died, get sick, get scares, everything a human can experience.…
The long lifespans of deities and demons (compared to mortal humans) and the loneliness that can bring is a pretty important plot point. The Yellow Emperor (the King of Xiyan) is well over 3,000 years old. Xiang Liu is over 600 years old. Cang Xuan, Xiao Yao and Tushan Jing are all well over 300 years old by the end of the first episode.
The main characters having the magical ability to transform (including fully changing one's body to be the opposite gender) is also a pretty key plot point. Particularly Xiao Yao's ability to use the face forming flower to transform into the form of a man so seamlessly that not even the most powerful deity or demon could see through the transformation.
Xiang Liu having nine heads (in his true demon form) and nine lives is also pretty key to the plot.
Plus the deity / demon context allows for other fun plot points like winged rides (e.g., Xiang Liu's winged ride, Chubby) and certain characters being able to breathe under water.
It would be a very different (and IMO a much less interesting) story if everyone was a mortal human and there were no demons or deities.
I have watched LLTG, TTEOTM, SOKP and LYF. If you loved LLTG, TTEOTM and SOKP, one thing you should probably be…
You're welcome!
For a bit of additional context, this is a reverse harem drama. Tushan Jing, Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan all fall for Xiao Yao, and there are other interested parties.
Cang Xuan is listed second in the cast list because the author considers him to be the second main character of the story after Xiao Yao. Since Xiao Yao spends most of the story with Cang Xuan (including the parts of episode 1 that cover her childhood) the narrative covers more of his story than the other male characters' stories. In the novel, he is Xiao Yao's cousin and closest person. There are certain details that make it seem like he's still her cousin in the drama, and certain details that make it seem like the drama writers made a change so that they are not related by blood. So in a sense you can decide how you want to interpret that one.
I have had this show for a while on my watch list simply because of all the rave reviews.HOWEVER may I request…
I have watched LLTG, TTEOTM, SOKP and LYF. If you loved LLTG, TTEOTM and SOKP, one thing you should probably be aware of if you don't mind spoilers (major, major spoilers ahead so definitely stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled for the end of season 2 of LYF...) is that in LYF, the male character that the female lead ends up with in the end is not the legendary ruthless general character (Xiang Liu) or the man with ambitions to rule the world (Cang Xuan). Instead, she ends up with kind Ye Shi Qi / Tushan Jing, who constantly forgives and never turns cold-hearted, no matter what he is put through. Sometimes his soft-heartedness causes the female lead to suffer too. So if you liked LLTG, TTEOTM and SOKP because you like dramas where the female lead ends up with male leads who are decisive, who have a bit of ruthlessness in them, and who have a bit of a dark and twisty side, you might not like this drama.
That said, all three male leads bring something interesting to the table, and Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan's parts of the story are well worth watching, even though they aren't endgame for the female lead.
3 
1 
1 
As for QL acting “under an unproven assumption, that "mind swap" can even happen”, I don’t blame him for believing what JXY told him about the mind / body swap at that point. In addition to JXY confessing the “truth” (as she viewed it at the time) and reminding QL about it, it explained JXY’s behaviour from the moment they reunited, and the phones / message board posts were additional evidence. After finding out the actual truth we can look back in retrospect and blame QL for believing JXY despite the fact that her words hadn’t been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, but that seems like a rather unfair and unrealistic standard to hold him to.
I agree that JXY didn’t do anything wrong / anything that merited being treated like that. But I also get that once QL believed that JXY wasn’t the JXY that he knew and trusted in high school, she became someone he had no reason to trust. In his eyes, she seemed like someone who had stolen his JXY’s body. To him, she seemed like a bad guy who had done something wrong and who might cause further harm to his JXY.
“violence is never an excusable option.” That I don’t agree with. When HBY tried to kill JXY (by throwing her off the roof and later by trying to convince her to commit suicide) and hurt QL, I think QL was justified when he used violence to fight HBY. And when QL choked HBY and threatened him to try to get information about XJY and the lighthouse system… I mean it was maybe illegal but IMO it wasn’t inexcusable. And when QL used his legs to choke FXX (and almost killed her), it was self-defence, so a justified use of violence and not illegal.
“But I just cannot stand any form of unjustified violence. It just shows true character of the person, and at least for me, there is rarely a redemption for a person once they choose violent route when it just wasn't needed.”
I get that. I agree that even if everything he believed at that point was true, QL still didn’t need to choke JXY in that scene and it was wrong of him to do so (although the way the actor did it was so obviously not actual choking that it removed some of the awfulness of it for me). It also seems like QL got into a lot of fights that weren’t necessary when he was in high school, so it’s a pattern of behaviour rather than a one-off. But for me he didn’t go so far astray that he could never be redeemed. And for context there have been plenty of popular dramas with MLs that I couldn’t forgive because they did go too far and didn’t redeem themselves.
iirc, Xuan Yang = Xuan Yuan / Xiyan, Xuan Mu = Sheng Nong / Chenrong, and Ling Yun = Gao Xing / Haoling.
For example, in A Lifetime of Love, Mu Qing Mo / Xuanyang Chuo (who is based on Princess Xuan Yuan Ba / Ah Heng in the novels) is very clearly the biological daughter of King Xuanyang (the Yellow Emperor of Xuan Yuan in the novels). That is consistent with the novels. However, in Lost You Forever the drama, the production team changed certain details from the novels to make it seem like Ah Heng is not the King of Xiyan’s biological daughter (so that Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan would not be cousins by blood).
The ending is happy, but a bit boring compared to some of the more intense parts of the drama.
If I were in JXY's position, I'm not sure that I would be able to forgive QL. But given the full context of both the circumstances in that episode and their relationship as a whole, I can understand why JXY was able to eventually forgive him and to even fall in love with him again later on.
In that episode, QL didn't think that the JXY in front of him was his JXY. He thought this person was something horrific. A parasitic soul that had stolen his JXY's body from his JXY. He thought she was someone who threatened his JXY's very existence, which made this person enemy #1 to him. On top of that, he was dealing with the perception that he had lost his JXY all over again, and he probably felt extremely guilty for treating this JXY so well up to this point and for not realizing the "truth" sooner (especially since JXY had already outright told him that she wasn't his JXY). He wanted to protect and do right by his JXY, and he channeled those feelings into physically and verbally threatening this other person that he believed had taken over his JXY's body (and for the record, JXY also believed that she was a different person from another world who had taken over his JXY's body). And that situation seems, to me, to be very different from any kind of real-life domestic abuse situation I can think of.
On top of all that, through the flashbacks in episode 19 and 20, we find out that the ML used intimidation and physical violence to protect his JXY from others who tried to harm her for years. In fact, that was the original foundation of their relationship and the reason JXY approached him in the first place.
Does the context make QL's behaviour okay? Objectively, it does not. In the eyes of the law he could absolutely still be prosecuted for his actions and even if he could reveal the context it wouldn't serve as an acceptable defense for what he did. But subjectively? While the context doesn't exactly make his behaviour "okay", I can see how it could potentially make his behaviour forgivable... and I can see how it could allow JXY to eventually forgive QL for the way he treated her in that episode.
I view QL's behaviour in the first few episodes in a similar light. The way he kept tabs on JXY and followed her around even after she told him to stop? That's stalking, which is a crime and objectively not okay behaviour. However, as the viewers and JXY later find out, QL is completely devoted to his role as JXY's protector. He needs to know that she's okay, and if she isn't okay then he has to do something about it to make sure that she is okay. Although that context doesn't make stalking okay (and it made me almost as uncomfortable as his behviour in episode 7), I can understand why JXY didn't end up holding it against QL later, given the circumstances.
I agree with everyone who has mentioned how the pacing deeply affected the heart of this series and took away from the emotional investment and build up that made the original anime so great.
IMO, having more episodes (which could each have shorter run time) to cover Yusuke's death and resurrection, Genkai's tournament (and a recap of Yusuke's six months of training with her), and the saint beasts arc would have been perfect for a first season. The emotional pay off at the end of the saint beasts arc was so good. Then they'd have all the Toguro Brothers and Dark Tournament content available to cover properly in a second season.
Overall, could've been worse. But it also could've been a lot better.
The zither was playing, poems were recited, and even magic tricks were being performed for entertainment.
Xiao Yao observed and laughed “That Xing Yue sure knows how to throw a party.”
The music stopped and the platter floated to where Xiao Yao and Fang Feng Bei were standing.
Xiao Yao shrank behind Fang Feng Bei and whispered “Other than making poisons I don’t know how to do anything else.”
Fang Feng Bei smiled, picked up the wine and downed it, then lazily bowed to everyone “I’ll do some magic!”
Fang Feng Bei pointed to Xiao Yao “Go stand over there.”
With everyone’s eyes on her, Xiao Yao stiffly walked over.
Fang Feng Bei picked a white flower and waved the flower dew on Xiao Yao who made an annoyed face at him and whispered, “If you dare toy with me, I’ll get you back for this!”
The moment she said that, the white flower dew spread like a dye on her robe and turned it from a yellow robe into a white one.
A girl laughed. “Another color?”
Fang Feng Bei asked, “What color?”
The girl picked a purple flower and sent it to Fang Feng Bei who ripped the petals and tossed the dew on Xiao Yao’s robe. The purple flower dew turned into a dye and gradually spread over the robe, turning it into a purple color.
Everyone was amused, especially the girls who loved to be pretty, so by now Xing Yue, Zhuan Xu, Feng Long, Jing, Hou, and Yi Yang were all standing by the river and clapping along.
Fang Feng Bei used a green flower to transform Xiao Yao’s robe into a green one. He could see Xiao Yao’s hand was clenched into a fist with her impatience so he turned to the audience with a smile. “That’s it for today.”
Feng Long tossed a red flower over to Bei. “Make one more, a red one!” All the outfits were beautiful on Xiao Yao but perhaps his first time seeing her was so impactful as she wore the red ceremonial dress but she didn’t seem to like red and never wore that color again after the ceremony.
Fang Feng Bei smiled. “The birthday boy’s request” and made one more outfit as he splashed the red flower dew on Xiao Yao and her robe gradually changed into red.
Xiao Yao’s patience was at its end and she didn’t have any hint of a smile but forced herself to take a bow so she opened her arms and twirled once in a circle before curtsying to Feng Long, indicating the game was ended. She turned to leave.
A sharp loud scream cut through the air and a young girl had her hands clapped over her mouth as she stared with her face stark white at Xiao Yao. A young man sitting under the tree slowly stood up and glared balefully at Xiao Yao.
Back then, they were both so small, but that nightmare scenario they would never forget. That devil who destroyed their entire tribe also wore a red robe, and he also had eyes that didn’t seem to care about anything or anyone. Faced with the pleading of their fathers and brothers, he only coldly looked towards the distance.
Xiao Yao glanced at the girl who screamed and the girl lowered her head to avoid Xiao Yao’s stare but her body was shaking uncontrollably but it wasn’t visible since she was behind a flower stalk.
Xiao Yao and Fang Feng Bei returned to the guest rest chambers and Feng Long and Zhuan Xu walked in behind them.
Xing Yue and Yi Yang sidled up to Fang Feng Bei and Yi Yang wheedled, “Dear second brother, teach us your trick!”
Fang Feng Bei laughed and pointed to Xiao Yao. “It’s temporary so of no use to learn.”
Xiao Yao’s red robe was gradually fading in color to reveal the original yellow robe. Xing Yue and Yi Yang sighed, it really was useless to learn this trick.
The main characters having the magical ability to transform (including fully changing one's body to be the opposite gender) is also a pretty key plot point. Particularly Xiao Yao's ability to use the face forming flower to transform into the form of a man so seamlessly that not even the most powerful deity or demon could see through the transformation.
Xiang Liu having nine heads (in his true demon form) and nine lives is also pretty key to the plot.
Plus the deity / demon context allows for other fun plot points like winged rides (e.g., Xiang Liu's winged ride, Chubby) and certain characters being able to breathe under water.
It would be a very different (and IMO a much less interesting) story if everyone was a mortal human and there were no demons or deities.
For a bit of additional context, this is a reverse harem drama. Tushan Jing, Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan all fall for Xiao Yao, and there are other interested parties.
Cang Xuan is listed second in the cast list because the author considers him to be the second main character of the story after Xiao Yao. Since Xiao Yao spends most of the story with Cang Xuan (including the parts of episode 1 that cover her childhood) the narrative covers more of his story than the other male characters' stories. In the novel, he is Xiao Yao's cousin and closest person. There are certain details that make it seem like he's still her cousin in the drama, and certain details that make it seem like the drama writers made a change so that they are not related by blood. So in a sense you can decide how you want to interpret that one.
That said, all three male leads bring something interesting to the table, and Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan's parts of the story are well worth watching, even though they aren't endgame for the female lead.