This review may contain spoilers
this took me by surprise
I have just finished this, I was so behind, this drama took me totally by surprise.I had been eagerly awaiting it, but mainly to see Zuo Ye most recent appearance and honestly had I not had him to see I might not have finished this. The first three episodes for me felt lack lustre, the moon lord had no lord to him and it felt like Bai Lu was propping him up, the drama set itself felt a bit clunky, despite its beauty, felt like I was watching a b movie, but then the story began to take me somewhere and somehow all of that became secondary. The moon lord seemed to find himself and his gentler characterisation seemed to grow in strength, Bai Lu didn’t disappoint as she just got stronger and they totally complemented each other as a couple. I liked the pace of their love story no messing about but at the same time it felt natural.
The second couple also were surprisingly strong and at one point I felt the second male lead could have easily played the main lead. The sisters story took me totally by surprise at the end being the bow, yet it was perfect in concept.
The story was mesmerising and the pace was near perfect.
My only slight niggles were the ending, I didn’t need the moon lord to come back but if he had I wanted something more creative than just reappearing, I felt that let the story down which had been so good all the way through and the extra bit again a bit cheesy for the drama imo.
The eternals felt nothingy as a clan, I found myself wanting to fast forward every time they came on screen, just felt no substance to them especially as they didn’t seem to do any protecting which their whole role was supposed to be, in fact they seemed weak.
The clunky fight scenes, I often felt like I could see the equipment used to make it, it was so not natural. It reminded me a lot of Back from the brink, great story, great acting, but just clunky.
Overall though, it surpassed all my expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed this. A hard one to rate, if I used my logic it wouldn’t be that high of a score, but the story and the feels would make me score it high. So for me a solid 8.5 out of 10 ❤️
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The best drama of 2025, no hesitation!
wow! this blew all the other dramas this year out of the water!The second part more than held up to the first and the rollercoaster of emotions you feel as the viewer mirrors totally the two leads tragic stories and that’s some skills being displayed, by the actors, the writers, the directors, everything was spot on, they scared you, they cajoled you, they gave you warmth and replaced it with horror and then pulled you into hope and a glimmer of happiness tinged with pain and then they showed you fragility of man and how we teeter on a knifes edge of morality, gosh it’s brilliant.
I especially appreciated that they didn’t sugar coat the horror of his killings, in the very graphic detail of the filming but more than that, they made you feel that it was justified to take those peoples lives and even the brutality of the killings felt right, but then Your faced with an innocent child and a brief moment where you believe, of course he’d have spared that kids life, but they didn’t , it was the killing of the child we saw what he’d become, the monster had indeed taken over and even though you could somehow understand the logic behind why, the reality is he killed an innocent child, he had lost control and then your faced with how easily humans slip.
His final hours sum up perfectly his life, the dark cell, the light high up from the window but behind bars, the present opened by someone else but put together again roughly by a an officer that gave a little kindness. A brief moment of delight snatched away and a swift and brutal execution as the shots rang out.
Given all I’ve said, His mother at the end was the hardest part for me to watch, ||being a mother myself, having been in that position myself I found my heart cold to her character and despised the pity and remorse that came far to late. It felt self-centred, which was exactly right for the character.
I actually thought the ending was beautiful, for all his sacrifice and love he ultimately gave her healing through his unwavering love and devotion. Through that beautiful side of him he achieved exactly what he’d wanted, a future for her as best it could be.
Even the ending credits, with the perfect music score and happy actors on set, helped you grieve what you’d just watched and then lifted you and reminded you that this is just a beautiful, yet brutal piece of art. It grounds you back in reality and I appreciated that because it is an emotional watch and I really would recommend doing that if you watch this.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This drama is Honest.
The perfect portrayal of love & Grief, really beautiful.Everything is on point as it quietly stands out alone.
It Felt so accurately through the emotions of terminal illness,but more than that. Like the director, producer, cast & crew were in sync with those feelings, exactly what they were portraying, some kind of greater knowing.
That last episode could have ended at so many points, just like life, love, death, grief. I haven’t seen a better ending honestly. That’s what this drama is honest.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
practically perfect in every way
There is nothing I didn’t like about this drama. As someone who grew up in that era, yet not in China, the feels it gave of its era were spot on and totally nostalgic for me, which only added to the excellent writing, directing and all acting performances. The making of this felt as loved as the story itself and those actors gave everything to their roles.Unlike others in the comments I don’t need to know anymore from the story, otherwise I think it would take away from the story. 12 episodes was just perfect, the writers did such a good job with what was a heavy story with heavy subjects, yet left you feeling heart warmed.
This drama is beautiful.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
if your don’t like revenge and gore, this is not for you.
Binged this in one go.I see there’s a lot of complaint about lack of plot, but really I think the plot was spot on, twists and turns nearly every episode, it kept you thinking just enough, but allowed you to immerse yourself in what was simple revenge for his brother and honestly I don’t know why you would expect anything else, after all it was mercy for none and oh boy did it deliver. Those fight scenes, honestly couldn’t get enough of them and there’s no lacking in quantity.
It stands perfectly at 7 episodes and honestly I’d be happy to end it there, but I felt like they left it open at the end to go two ways. First you have the back story with his brother and gosh I’d be a fool to say I wouldn’t like to see more of LJH :fire: as the younger brother, that man owned the screen in the first episode, so much so you felt he was in the entire drama.
Secondly did he die at the end? after all look at what he survived throughout the drama, and I felt there is a whole story to be had with
LJH’s right hand man from the first episode to the last, with both brothers having a legacy type conversation before both their deaths. As I say I’d greedily watch another series but I’m also happy with what was for me a perfect drama. It was a 10/10 for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
