This review may contain spoilers
Stuck on Repeat
Promising at first for the plot, but you need to bear with the repetitiveness and editing.
Repetitiveness of the plot
The plot keeps repeating itself in every aspect, and the pacing feels quite off. There are no major events that truly shift the direction of the story, instead, it's a series of small problems that feel artificially inserted just to keep the viewer going until the finale, which itself turns out to be not particularly thrilling. A bad guy appears, there's a forced kiss, the FL accuses the ML of deception and tries to kill him. Then they reconcile, a new bad guy appears, a new forced kiss or hug, and the FL accuses the ML again. The intrigue doesn't help either, since they need to find three different objects to cultivate the Ziwei Method, which creates the same cycle of plot twists over and over.
Another issue: Cai Zhao seems to be living out the same storyline as her aunt. First, it becomes tedious to watch a Cai Zhao scene only for it to be immediately followed by a flashback of her aunt doing essentially the same thing. Second, I would have appreciated more diversity in their respective developments and experiences.
In their defense, I think the writers focused less on making the overall plot compelling and more on showing how the characters were growing, which would make sense given the title of the drama. I liked the idea of an elder generation that faced many of the same challenges the younger generation is now encountering, and how the younger generation tries to avoid repeating the same mistakes. It's a genuinely nice concept, and I enjoyed all the flashbacks to the previous generation, which made for interesting comparisons. Overall, though, I think this is a case of wasted potential. It's like having a great idea for a book but being unable to write it well, or envisioning a beautiful drawing that ends up looking terrible in execution.
Production Issues
Setting aside the repetitive plot, the production itself is quite questionable. On the positive side, the costumes and some of the sets are nice. However, the editing is poorly done, the makeup on Cai Zhao is baffling (why is she so pale?), and the acting sometimes feels excessive, though that may partly be due to the strange editing choices (e.g., shots of Mu Qingyan making odd faces). Some scenes don't flow well together, and certain shots feel out of place. At times, we hear Mu Qingyan shouting something to Cai Zhao while the camera shows a wide shot of a mansion and garden filled with fighting characters. I found this very disorienting, as your eyes instinctively search for the people involved in the dialogue.
Romance and relationships
The romance, though, was completely wasted by Mu Qingyan's repeated unsettling behavior and Cai Zhao's constant rejection. Frustrating at first, then simply boring. I was hoping he would let go sooner, and that she would start chasing him a little. Their dynamic at the beginning was actually quite good: she was flirty and he showed nothing more than simple affection. Then came several awkward kiss attempts. Why not let her fall so deeply in love that she's the one trying to kiss him? Instead, they kept the obsessed-pursuer-and-rejecting dynamic all the way through, what a waste. I would have preferred the introduction of a woman he could have grown close to, to shake things up. As for Yuzhi, he should have either been simply her friend or someone she had some romantic interest in. What did his unrequited love actually bring to the plot?
That question, honestly, could be asked about many elements of this drama.
For example, I think they could have done something really compelling with Mu Qingyan's mother. He has so many repeated creepy scenes and moments of coughing up blood, they could have used that screen time to explore his mother issues, showing her trying to manipulate him and him resisting. That would have been far more interesting. His mother brought nothing to the plot tbh.
Good points
On the other hand, I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Lingbo and her mother, especially the one where Lingbo pushes back against her mother's advice, pointing out that her guidance didn't exactly lead to the best outcome given how her mother's own story ended. I also really liked Cai Zhao and Mu Qingyan's first meeting when she encounters him as himself. The enemies-to-lovers energy there was genuinely great. It was so promising and I actually loved the few episodes after this moment.
Conclusion
The repetitive plot combined with the production flaws makes the drama genuinely uninteresting at a certain point. They could have ended it after 20 episodes and it would have been tighter. I think it gets better toward the end, but I honestly couldn't watch at normal playback speed. It feels like the producers had a clear vision of the broad strokes and the ending, but didn't really know what to fill in between, which, for me, is the most important part.
Also, Rebirth has been in my watchlist for a while, but now that I've found out it's from the same director, I'm seriously reconsidering.
Repetitiveness of the plot
The plot keeps repeating itself in every aspect, and the pacing feels quite off. There are no major events that truly shift the direction of the story, instead, it's a series of small problems that feel artificially inserted just to keep the viewer going until the finale, which itself turns out to be not particularly thrilling. A bad guy appears, there's a forced kiss, the FL accuses the ML of deception and tries to kill him. Then they reconcile, a new bad guy appears, a new forced kiss or hug, and the FL accuses the ML again. The intrigue doesn't help either, since they need to find three different objects to cultivate the Ziwei Method, which creates the same cycle of plot twists over and over.
Another issue: Cai Zhao seems to be living out the same storyline as her aunt. First, it becomes tedious to watch a Cai Zhao scene only for it to be immediately followed by a flashback of her aunt doing essentially the same thing. Second, I would have appreciated more diversity in their respective developments and experiences.
In their defense, I think the writers focused less on making the overall plot compelling and more on showing how the characters were growing, which would make sense given the title of the drama. I liked the idea of an elder generation that faced many of the same challenges the younger generation is now encountering, and how the younger generation tries to avoid repeating the same mistakes. It's a genuinely nice concept, and I enjoyed all the flashbacks to the previous generation, which made for interesting comparisons. Overall, though, I think this is a case of wasted potential. It's like having a great idea for a book but being unable to write it well, or envisioning a beautiful drawing that ends up looking terrible in execution.
Production Issues
Setting aside the repetitive plot, the production itself is quite questionable. On the positive side, the costumes and some of the sets are nice. However, the editing is poorly done, the makeup on Cai Zhao is baffling (why is she so pale?), and the acting sometimes feels excessive, though that may partly be due to the strange editing choices (e.g., shots of Mu Qingyan making odd faces). Some scenes don't flow well together, and certain shots feel out of place. At times, we hear Mu Qingyan shouting something to Cai Zhao while the camera shows a wide shot of a mansion and garden filled with fighting characters. I found this very disorienting, as your eyes instinctively search for the people involved in the dialogue.
Romance and relationships
The romance, though, was completely wasted by Mu Qingyan's repeated unsettling behavior and Cai Zhao's constant rejection. Frustrating at first, then simply boring. I was hoping he would let go sooner, and that she would start chasing him a little. Their dynamic at the beginning was actually quite good: she was flirty and he showed nothing more than simple affection. Then came several awkward kiss attempts. Why not let her fall so deeply in love that she's the one trying to kiss him? Instead, they kept the obsessed-pursuer-and-rejecting dynamic all the way through, what a waste. I would have preferred the introduction of a woman he could have grown close to, to shake things up. As for Yuzhi, he should have either been simply her friend or someone she had some romantic interest in. What did his unrequited love actually bring to the plot?
That question, honestly, could be asked about many elements of this drama.
For example, I think they could have done something really compelling with Mu Qingyan's mother. He has so many repeated creepy scenes and moments of coughing up blood, they could have used that screen time to explore his mother issues, showing her trying to manipulate him and him resisting. That would have been far more interesting. His mother brought nothing to the plot tbh.
Good points
On the other hand, I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Lingbo and her mother, especially the one where Lingbo pushes back against her mother's advice, pointing out that her guidance didn't exactly lead to the best outcome given how her mother's own story ended. I also really liked Cai Zhao and Mu Qingyan's first meeting when she encounters him as himself. The enemies-to-lovers energy there was genuinely great. It was so promising and I actually loved the few episodes after this moment.
Conclusion
The repetitive plot combined with the production flaws makes the drama genuinely uninteresting at a certain point. They could have ended it after 20 episodes and it would have been tighter. I think it gets better toward the end, but I honestly couldn't watch at normal playback speed. It feels like the producers had a clear vision of the broad strokes and the ending, but didn't really know what to fill in between, which, for me, is the most important part.
Also, Rebirth has been in my watchlist for a while, but now that I've found out it's from the same director, I'm seriously reconsidering.
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