windiossiesta

As I'm rewatching TSL again right now, I came across another comment about YQ and YT that I really like and want to share here with everyone.

YQ's soul and birth is tied with the falling stars, so when they watched the meteor shower together, YT wanted to make a wish, he gave her a shooting star to wish upon then took it back after her outrageous wish. She complained but he told her the myth about making wish upon shooting star was actually just the deity in charge of the stars hearing the wishes and make them happen. So she concluded that she doesn't need to wish upon the star, just need to wish with him and he will complete it.

Now, the real beautiful things that make this dialogue and moment special:

Agree with you! And CXX's crying at the last scene is amazing too. Some people kept complaining about his crying at the end for not "good to look at", not "handsome", so "out of character" or whatever. I saw many meme screenshots of his crying scene and people laughing and joking about it but I really don't like that. I know many also love his character and found the joke cute and just like to create meme out of it, but I don't like the overuse of that joke everywhere, causing people who haven't watched the whole drama to think he has an ugly crying face and he doesn't act crying scene well. It's not true at all.

If I remember correctly, YQ only really cried once in the whole drama, and it was at the end when he lost her? Before, he has his teary eyes moments, but YQ was a strong person who was so used to holding back his emotions. CXX's teary eyes during the meeting of the 3 shards were different for each shard and so painful, we can actually feel how each shard felt and thought about the betrayal. He doesn't look ugly at all here. He knew how to cry "beautifully" too. However, his character YQ only broke down and cried his heart out for Yetan, because he lost his world right there. It is like he is crying for all his life's worth, to make up for everything he had to hold back before, because at that moment he was losing the only thing he treasured the most, wanted to fight for the most. He held back himself, trained himself since young to be strong for the world, for his family, for others, for the ones he love, yet all that power and training can't help him save the love of his life, the girl who saved him from death and his own sad fate... I noticed he was totally losing his composure standing in front of Yetan then, anxiously shifting around like a fearful child... CXX acted with his whole body, with many silent gestures and details we have to pay attention to notice, not just with his face. It's amazing really. It feels so natural and the character became alive like a real person because of all the subtle gestures, body movements, and of course his eyes that can speak a lot without words.

Sorry for the long rant, haha. I was very touched with their parting scene, and was also very impressed with CXX after watching his behind the scene crying scene for the female lead dying in GMP. He was so good at both, and he cried himself breathless in GMP even after the director stopped filming for a while. Such dedication and deep emotion to get in character, I respect that a lot so I'm annoyed when people joke too much about him crying... I've watched movies and dramas with older and professional actors, both Western and Chinese, who cried really "ugly" in painful scenes, with not only tears but even runny nose or saliva mixing in... but I never found them ugly because I was too busy crying and hiccuping and wiping my face along with them. That's real acting there, not trying to keep their face handsome all the time.

That's great to know. I look forward to watch them later. I was already very impressed with his versatility in TSL, and after a few clips on Bilibili of him in other dramas, I can see different vibes for different characters there too, so I have faith in his roles.

I'm especially impressed with one behind the scene video of him crying at the end of GMP when the female lead died. It was just a BTS video but it was so impactful, his screaming and crying was so real in that scene. I read that he couldn't stop crying for a long while even after the director stopped filming that scene. I'm amazed with how he got so deep in his character for filming like that. He really is a serious and professional actor, he respects his role and job very much. And he apparently was only 21 and a fresh graduate from school back then.

I find it so rare and admirable in a young Chinese actor nowaways, since the whole market now prefers to make quick money with traffic stars, selling fake couple ships in dramas for fans, careless and irresposible filming from scriptwriters, directors, producers and actors/actresses. Of course there are still serious and professional actors and film makers around to make good stuffs, but they aren't appreciated enough compare to the things I often see on my feeds related to Cbiz now. That's why I haven't watched C-dramas, especially costume and romance book adaptation C-dramas for a long time until now. I gave up hope for them being good without older and serious actors being leads, lol.

I really hope CXX can get more good scripts and roles to act and improve in the future, can work with more professional and dedicated production teams and grow into a well known name. He doesn't need to become a traffic star with all kind of trouble and obsessed fans and paparazis digging into his life, but I hope he can become a well known actor casual viewers also know about and adknowledge, and will watch his dramas and films for him because they know his acting is a guaratee for a good watch, like some famous senior Chinese actors now. Of course he should get more fans, but I hope not the traffic star style coz' the fanwars will be a big headache and unneccessary for his career going forward.

I haven't checked many Chinese platforms yet, still only stay on Youku Chinese to rewatch and on Bilibili for clips and MVs and comments. I read that Douban rating for TSL started at 7.4 in the middle of airing, but dropped to 7.1 currently because of the ending :( I hope it will rise again in the future.

On Bilibili, I saw early clips (according to the upload dates, they seem to be before the drama official air and was made based mostly on trailers released before airing) ridiculing both CXX and LLD acting and voice. It was based on their 1st meeting scene where she acted ridiculous to make him hate her sister and dropped marriage while he was kinda emotionless and wooden.

People complained back then that her acting is too over the top and annoying, his acting is lacking and wooden, her voice is too high pitch and annoying, again, and his voice is too low and not fitting for a Heavenly God. They joked that his voice is like a bull, complained that he is too fat (what the hell???) and not handsome to act as Heavenly God, apparently not "Heavenly" enough, she is not pretty enough to act as Xianxia main lead (her character is human, not the most beautiful Goddess in the world anyway, and she's pretty!).....

But I also see many comments defending them and the drama now posted under these early clips. They ranged from the days the drama just started airing officially till now, more and more are coming to defend them. The bull nickname for CXX's voice and Youqin has changed from a bad anti nickname now to an endearing nickname. People are defending them using their real voices instead of dub because they portrayed the characters' emotions really well and CXX's low voice actually fits his Shaodian Youqin character, especially his different tones for different shards.

Haha.. how I wish we could find those on rainbow... Normally I can't stand too long Cdramas, they drag on forever. I was satisfied when I started TSL because I saw it has only 40 episodes. But now I wish it could be 42 or 45 so we got more sweet and touching scenes, and some better explanation and transition for the last arc. It shouldn't be any longer or it will fall into the "dragging on" error like many other dramas.

I think one of the reason the pacing and story telling in TSL was so good and enjoyable for us was because the producer and director were forced to make only 40 episodes so they couldn't drag even if they wanted to. Yet after the ending, we fans won't complain if they just add 2 to 5 more extra episodes, haha... It's not like it's too unusual. I remember in the past, I saw Cdramas with 42 or 45 eps and they were good.

1. Lamu's normal voice is low and like he is growling, but once he is near his "Niangzi/Wife", his voice immediately changed to a very childish voice. It's super adorable!

2. After returning to Heaven, Youqin and Yetan started their lovey dovey days and whenever Yetan was with her Youqin, her voice also suddenly changed to a very childish version of herself! During her wedding too! We can really see a young girl in love for the 1st time. It's so sweet, haha

3. I don't know if the Engsub version translated it well, since I also didn't notice the 1st time I watched, but on my 2nd/3rd time watching on Chinese Youku, there is this scene where Yetan was smiling to herself the day after Youqin 2.0 confessed to her, then Man Man came over. Yetan whispered her explanation to Man Man and Man Man almost talked out loud that Youqin remembered. Yetan immediately stopped her and she said they can't let Heaven Emperor know Youqin remember, or else "my Youqin" will be lost. She actually called him "MY Youqin" in Chinese instead of just Youqin. It's super sweet and adorable how she just unconsiously and naturally called him like that. She didn't call him "hers" in front of others before, only Xuanshangqun, Youqin, Shaodian Heartless.... etc. We can also link this back to Youqin's confession the night right before. He told her "I'm Shaodian Youqin, also YOUR Lamu, Your Meiyouqing, and Wenren...". He told her he belongs to her, and she so naturally called him as HERS the next day.... Oh my... :))))

Some interesting points for discussion I noticed on my rewatch and reading Chinese comments on Youku Chinese.

I saw some comments complaining that Yetan didn't cry enough while Youqin 1.0 died, or when Youqin 2.0 was injured for her, but I disagree so strongly with those opinions! This is what made Yetan such a different and strong female lead. She doesn't cry uselessly. She is so strong, and her emotion during those scenes were very in character of her personality. That's also why during other scenes where she really broke down in later episodes, it is really painful. We can see the different level of pain she suffered and we cried with her so much, for such a strong girl to break like that T_T

Talking about not overacting, I love their scenes at the end of ep 30 too. How strong and different Youqin is from other drama leads when he was so injured but instead of continuing to cough up blood all over the place then fainted right there, he asked her "I was really awesome/handsome back then, wasn't I?" to comfort his beloved, and Yetan's answer is perfect too! She has tears in her eyes but she didn't cry pitifully or blame herself for his state, instead she told him how proud she was of him and their love. Oh, this power couple!

As I mentioned in another reply on a fanfic related discussion above this comment, I do want to see more details about what happened after they left Heaven realm and I think his injury kinda healed too quickly after being so severe, but the ending of ep 30 was perfect as it is after their simple conversation, then he told her "Let's go" and her voice-over "from now on, he can finally call my name", then his voice-over echoing directly into my heart "Li Guang Ye Tan". I need to praise the 2 leads here for their lines delivery in this scene! Very on point and emotional!!!!

I found Fall in Love (republican era) and Truth (it looks like a modern crime investigation drama?) on Youku Youtube channel so I downloaded them.

Oh right, I found CXX's Fall in Love on Viki and saw a similar comment function there, but I haven't started it yet for I haven't gotten over TSL yet. Will do later. I want to try rewatching TSL on Viki for that function but it isn't available in my region at all. I tried some free VPN tool but still didn't work, so I will wait for a much later rewatch to give it a try again if Viki by then can be more friendly to me. Currently I'm rewatching TSL on Youku Chinese version to see the flying comments. I think the international version doesn't have it yet. I paid 1 month VIP for Chinese Youku only for this experience of watching it again with flying comments, I'm crazy I can't believe it, haha...

Haha, so true. I'm looking around for fanfics for my favorite couple now to make up for the too short ending in the drama. I saw the rare fanfic on AO3, it was well written though made me blush reading them, haha... I hope more and more fans will create more amazing fanfics for TSL, be it a continuation of the drama ending or even some alternate scenarios to happen in the middle of the plot. TSL has so many parts fan can explore and build their own imagination on.

For example, last night I found a Chinese fanfic writing in more details what happened after Youqin and Yetan left Heaven realm because the author thought his injury healed too quickly in episode 31, when he looked like he was about to drop dead at the end of ep 30, XD The fanfic describes more how Yetan was worried for her Youqin, and how Qingkui arrived to help treat his injury. It was quite nice and can actually be in the real drama and I won't complain. I myself also want to see more of the scene in the drama but I understand they only have 10 episode left for more important things so they had to brief over it.

Also, I read comments under the fanfic that they actually filmed a scene where Youqin and Yetan arrived at Human realm in that place where they met for the first time and he rescued her. Then Youqin couldn't hold it in and coughed up a little more blood while Yetan was very worried. Apparently that scene didn't make the final cut just like many many more precious scenes we missed out on :(

Yeah, the acting of both main leads, music, lines being said and special effects of that scene are all beautiful and meaningful. I kept comparing this scene with similar scenes in other dramas where male/female leads die in the arms of their beloved, with blood on their lips and smile on their face to comfort the other before dying, then close their eyes to be in peace while the other kept screaming and crying. But Youqin 1.0 and Yetan are so different, perhaps because this moment between them, they both still didn't know their own heart and feelings for each other yet. But we know, so it's even more bittersweet and painful to watch. How Yetan almost called him Shaodian Heartless again then stopped and called him Xuanshang, then wishing for his next life to be free of burden and responsibility... Aw, I love their story so much.

I can also compare this scene with the last scene where their love was already established and their roles were reversed. The pain now is multiplied 😭

I know, I gave the overall rating first, then while reading up the comments here, I found out about the episode rating and already did it all 🤣 I'm even checking if the number of people rating of watching this on this site have increased each week. It is growing slowly but I wish it could grow even faster. I feel like still not enough people know of this GEM! I saw on Facebook that some people are also avoiding this just because they heard the ending is not good enough as a HE. Such a pity! I also want a more clear HE but I think it was already okay, much better than original book ending anyway, and the whole drama doesn't deserve to be called bad just because of such an ending. It was solid gold and very good pacing till near the end. Not many Cdramas nowadays can do that. They drag a lot!

I'm actually rewatching from beginning, sometimes I skip a few scenes, and some episodes I rewatch multiple times, like ep 10-12 with Youqin 1.0, or the funny parts with his shards, or 25-30 with Youqin 2.0, especially 28 and 30 with the sword dance scene and the scene when he broke out of that punishment center to save her. It was so beautiful and romantic, their love story 😍

I read that he was only barely 21 when he filmed GMP. I also watched several MVs of his GMP character these days and am already impressed. I definitely plan to watch his older dramas now to catch up but currently I'm still so obsessed with TSL so I can't get into another drama and another set of characters yet. I don't want to keep comparing. I already downloaded GMP and 2 other dramas of CXX for later watch but I'm afraid I might watch them only for his scenes instead of the whole dramas like TSL. I used to give up hope for romance Cdramas, especially book adaptations because they are usually so bad I can't watch them till end 😅

I think this is the 1st time I saw a character dying with his eyes opened in Cdrama but not because he has regret, anger or unfinished business like revenge or something he couldn't do before dying that he couldn't die in peace. Youqin 1.0 left the world in peace with himself, if a little bittersweet with a what if he could stay with Yetan a little longer? He died with his eyes open only for Yetan 🥹 His "regret" is different from the usual regret of characters dying with eyes opened with great pain and unwillingness. He didn't think his death unfair, only us viewers feel the pain and regret for how life was unfair to him 🥲

That was his idea? That's even more amazing. As I'm digging more info about Starry Love and CXX, I also found out many details he added were his ideas. I haven't seen a young Chinese actor this dedicated to his acting and has his own thoughts like this in a long time.

Because of Starry Love, I created an account here just to give it 10 star rating so it can get higher and perhaps reach more viewers. I started watching after it ended airing so I don't have to wait weekly for episodes, but after finishing the drama, I wanted to find people to talk about it with me and I found this site. I admit I was so obsessed I read through all the comments here from beginning to see how people react with how the story progressed, with what happened each episode and with the actors and actresses. It is kinda like rewatching the drama with everyone. I haven't finished reading up to now yet but it was entertaining and today I just decided to join in the comments to keep this place alive for just a little longer, since I can't leave this drama behind yet 🤣

I understand a little Chinese so now I'm even rewatching it again on Youku to read the flying comments running on screen as the episodes play. It was very fun and sometimes those comments will point out small details that I didn't notice the 1st time. Really interesting! A pity I can't find any site for international viewers with something similar with this "comment along as the drama progress" function yet. Reading English comments is at least easier for me compared to trying to catch the Chinese words to understand on Youku or Bilibili 😅

Before watching this drama, I haven't watched any of the cast acting before. I only knew of CXX name because even though I haven't watched Goodbye My Princess, his character in it was apparently very famous for being a bad guy and funny meme pics of him were used everywhere on Facebook. After watching Starry Love, I'm now a big fan of him. His acting skill is really amazing and a fresh change for me in nowadays Cdrama. It has been 6 or 7 years since the last costume Cdrama I watched and even longer since I found a costume Cdrama in which most people can act, especially the main casts.

Even 6-7 years ago, the last costume Cdramas I watched was only for my favorite actor and I had to skip through half the dramas to only watch who I wanted to see, I couldn't stand the boring plots or the acting of some other characters. It was such a good surprise for me I rarely needed to fast forward with Starry Love. The fast pace, good humor and interaction between characters, the nice love story between different CPs and the amazing casts with their acting gave me a very entertaining experience. The rewatch value for this drama is very high. It helped me through my recent stressful and depressing period.