zaldrizes

Intrigue, Comedy, and Characters that captivate

⚠️ Written after completed the show, this review contains minor spoilers. I have not read the web novel.

This wasn’t the typical enemies-to-lovers trope I expected. Ji Bozai never truly thought he would kill Mingxian — he even had respect for her. And Mingxian didn’t want to kill him either. The story felt more like a lying trope than a pure enemies-to-lovers dynamic.

Let’s first talk about what I especially enjoyed.

I was amazed by how involved I was while watching this drama. It’s quite rare for me to binge a fully released drama this quickly. I can’t exactly explain why I was so captivated this time, but the story and characters kept me hooked. I believe the actors were great, although I’m not the best judge of acting skills. I also liked visual effects and the combat scenes, which I usually find quite laughable in wuxia dramas. The comedic moments were enjoyable as well; they help ease the tension when it gets too intense.

The story was by far my favorite part of the drama. One reason is that new villains keep appearing throughout the show, each with their own motivations, which keeps the plot dynamic and engaging. But the main reason I loved it was Mingyi’s prolonged deception. It added a tragic layer to the love story and prevented things from becoming too predictable or smooth between the leads. Even though some plot twists, like the true identities of the main characters, were easy to predict, I actually enjoyed that—I love when I can figure out the story ahead of time.

Mu Tianji was an amazing character. I could write a lot about her and how touching she was. I really liked the actress He Nan’s expressions. Mu Qibai behaved terribly, but he was right about the need for a change in the political direction of Jixing Abyss. While I did not hope for great political strategy when watching this drama, it’s interesting to consider it when it comes to Mu Tianji’s role. She was effective in both ambition and leadership, which men in the royal family were unable to. She forced communication — something many characters lacked — to make decisions. She trusted people based on her instincts and emotions, and she was right each time, as shown by how she built the successful Shouhua Academy.

The visuals were incredible, and the actors and costumes were beautiful. I especially liked the makeup on Xunming and Situ Long — they looked very handsome!

However, there were also elements that frustrated me to some extent.

First, the repeated patterns of plots and miscommunication. The plot can be a bit repetitive at times, especially with Mingyi’s identity storyline. There is also a lot of push-and-pull, which I usually enjoy, but overall it sometimes felt like the drama existed just for the sake of drama. This might seem contradictory with the fact that I liked Mingyi continuing to lie, but Ji Bozai was questioning things like the love Mingyi had for him — which he couldn’t really doubt. The tension worked well when it was about her not revealing her true identity, but the repeated questioning of her feelings felt irrelevant. Ji Bozai irritated me so much when he decided to misunderstand Mingyi, even though she had just slept with him. Near the end of the show, I was also so exhausted when he started being distant again because he wanted to sacrifice himself.
The miscommunication between the leads was very frustrating. Ji Bozai jumped to off-base conclusions, while Mingyi was too passive to clarify the real issues. Miscommunication is such a typical element in drama series, but I would love to see some innovation with communicating leads one day, lol.

Then, let’s talk about Situ Long’s character development. I saw a review saying Situ Long went from being a good villain to an obsessive creep, that is so real lol. I liked his initial role, Mingyi saying that he mistook gratitude for love, and I was hoping he would focus on getting the Golden Millet Dream for himself, especially when Mingyi never showed any interest in him. She was so polite and kept her distance, without any ambiguity. It makes the shifting from being a supportive intelligent ally to this manipulative obsessed guy even worse. I hoped he would gradually let go of his interest and would eventually stop, especially since he didn’t seem to mind hurting himself, but in the end his partner Fuyue also suffered because of his actions. In the end, the purpose of his character was for anything else that the need of an ultimate villain with charisma.

Finally, the missed opportunity of a tragic love-and-friendship. I also had high hopes for a tragedy regarding Zhangtai and Mingyi friendship regarding Zhangtai and Xunming’s marriage. When it was showed as love at first sight, I was hoping for a story where Mingyi might hesitate to harm Xunming because of his relationship with Zhangtai — a tragic love-and-friendship element. But my hopes died as soon as we saw that the wedding happened so quickly, understanding Zhangtai has become the victim of Xunming and that there was no true love between them.

So, I would recommend this drama to anyone. While it’s not entirely unique and some parts aren’t perfect, I think its main strength lies in the constant renewal of its plotlines and the fact that many of the characters are interesting. It never feels boring, and overall, it’s easy to watch.

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