Eternal Love (2017)

After coming off of The Untamed and Ashes of Love, my standards are VERY HIGH for what I expect from a fantasy/wuxia series. So far, with only 7 episodes in, I've been pleasantly surprised. My attention has been 110% on Li Ying, the Ghost Tribes 2nd prince, and not even remotely on Mo Yuan, so I'm struggling a little bit there since I know the series focus is going to eventually shift toward Mo Yuan (or his reincarnation) and Beng Jiu and less on the tragic story of Li Ying.

I've been rooting for him. He came into the story as a begrudging friend to Beng Jiu and cast aside any care for himself in order to be with her. He even stayed hidden in a cave for an undetermined amount of time in enemy territory in order to be with her even though she barely gave him the time of day. He eventually reached a point of total emotional despondency when he fully believed he had no chance to be with her, and he caved in to his loneliness with Xuan Nu after her long insistent, and touchy come-ons. I don't honestly fault him in that way. He didn't think he had a chance with Beng Jiu then she walks in and is upset and betrayed? As a viewer, I could see she was beginning to be swayed by his charms and insistent public displays of affection (which were very sweet and childish) but she never once confirmed her feelings for him or reciprocated in any way other than to show annoyance and impatience for his sweet gestures. When he returns to the Winged Realm, it's obvious he lacked total regard for his well-being and sought comfort in death. It was Xuan Nu, in her ruthless ambition and obsession with Li Ying, that saved him. He did not offer information to hurt the Heavenly Realm, nor did he support Xuan Nu in her betrayal. In fact, it seemed like he craved death and was more despondent than ever after that. All he wanted was to reconcile with Beng Jiu.

Anyway- I'm very obviously pining after the 2nd prince right now. I just feel like he's a beautiful, tragic, sympathetic, and grey character that I find very charismatic.

Episode 19 Thought Update:
Although the CGI is OK at BEST, I'm constantly mesmerized by how gorgeous and well-designed the costumes are. They're absolutely stunning. I remember watching Ashes of Love and being so underwhelmed by how cheaply made everything looked, despite the grandiose scale of the sets/costumes. Even when watching The Untamed; although the costumes were gorgeous, the sets weren't convincing and the CGI was terrible. Even the wigs sometimes looked too fake (the zombie puppets). Still, the stories in each series were always the main attraction and so beautifully woven together, that I was able to overlook those issues. In Eternal Love, the CGI is bad, but the set design is a lot nicer (usually), the costumes are GORGEOUS, and even the makeup isn't bad on the creatures (mercreatures and the winged realm). Also, Ye Hua's wig is probably the most natural wig I've ever seen. It's gorgeous, smooth, and the hairline and baby hair placement is so nearly perfect, I kept questioning if it was extensions to his real hair or if it was a wig (until i'd sometimes catch a glimpse of the wig hairline).

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This sprawling historical saga spanning thousands of years, is rich and luscious in its story-telling. The war, the love, the tribulations among the immortals and mortals are depicted with detail. Characters and plot are not one-dimensional. Most of them are easy on the eyes, even the villains. It would have been a 10 if it weren't for the female characters in the story, being given less redeeming qualities than their male counterparts. The female characters (even the good ones) are shown as duplicitous at worst, and unreasonably obstinate at best. While the male characters come across as the more forgiving, and more understanding partners. It was nice to see role reversals even at that time - the man cooking for the woman even if he was the crown prince, but this does not negate the fact that the women were given a harsher brush stroke. Bonus: if you don't even like the story, Mark Chao's acting is worth the 58 episode watch.

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These long journey is worth watching..

Complex story line with profound character developments. Even the somewhat minor characters were given beautiful subplots. Thus making it super long.

ML and FL've been through so much together and even when they were apart. They were immortals, in their long life, they've experienced multiple trials and triumphs.

Throughout the whole story many things happened to them. In our FL case, from student to god, from mortal to immortal, from being loved to being lost and broken. With the ML, it was about his journey of falling in love with a mortal, to losing her, to finding love again. They've experienced different kinds of sacrifices and betrayals. It was just a blessing that they still managed to have each other in the end. It's really hard to explain, so just go and see for yourself.

Oh the son of the main lead is really entertaining. His innocence is refreshing to see.

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Not bad for first time watcher.

Well, I'm not too passionate about the romance in this drama. But I can't say this drama is bad either. I expected more fighting scenes and colossal wars than romance intrigue, which could still be improved on. Even though the cast tried their best, I felt that many scenarios didn't make sense so I couldn't enjoy their roles. The good news is, I was able to follow this drama to the end, so there are still many other good things that can be found in this drama.
My favorite cast, ironically, are the supporting cast, like Ah Li, Si Ming, and even Mi Gu. My favorite female character that I like is Yan Zhi.
The music soundtracks: I don't have any comments. Like so, so.. Not bad, but not special.
I've considered watching the spin off version. but maybe not anytime soon.

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A long review spanning three lives and three worlds~

Ten miles of peach blossom- a classic Xianxia story which has many characters that you'll love or love to hate and a story you're bound to be obsessed with!

We all love our main leads Ye Hua and Bai Qian. They have a beautiful love story that shows you how deep the longing is and how the heart grows fonder with distance.

But this review is a tribute to the supporting cast.

Mo Yuan - the shifu of our fl and the God of War. This is a man with integrity and always does what he deems is righteous. Despite being in love with the fl he chooses to not say anything and goes as far as to make sure she's happy with the ml. He was only in for a few episodes but left an deep impression on me.

Xuan Nu- TMOPB has several villains but this is a character that despite being a villain gains my pity. Yes she's jealous of the fl but that's justifiable when everyone compares her to fl. Unlike Sujin she's not a unjustified man-crazy woman, she grows from a insecure but innocent young lady to a person that'd do whatever it takes to be powerful. And when she becomes powerful she tries to get Lijing's love to solidify her position but in the process actually falls in love with him. Her end is pitiful but she's a character with depth and complexity.

Lijing and Qilin- despite being a second ml who is supposed to be obsessed with our fl, I think Lijing is a well developed character. Yes he cares deeply about the fl, but never does he back away from his responsibilities. And his Qilin is just adorable lol.

Yanzhi and Zi Lan- these two are the cutest side couple in this story. Yan Zhi is a princess of the ghost tribe but she has a golden heart. She treats everyone fairly. A strong independent yet kind character. Zi Lan despite being a immortal is not judgemental in the slightest, he's also quite fun to watch.

Bai Zhen and Zhe Yan - The fourth fox Prince Bai Zhen, he's kind, witty and powerful. He loves his sister deeply and is a man that holds friendships over silly rules. The phoenix Zhe Yan is said to be by withdrawn from the world. But he's the best uncle anyone can hope to have. He's friendly, funny and great doctor. Also these two act like an old married couple, I live for their interactions.

Si Ming, Cheng Yu, Lian Song - the gossip trio of the heavenly realm. A breath of fresh air among the rigid heavenly tribe. They are the best friends you wish you had.

Dijun and Fengjiu - the side couple we all ship. A cute little fox princess gets saved by a retired grumpy heavenly lord and tries her best to return the favor. They fall in love and just to know are not fated to be. Starts as the cutest love story ever. Fengjiu is soooo cute smh, and Dijun, well who won't fall for him lol.

The Kunlun disciples- a group of disciples that have zero shenanigans going on. No jealousy over who their master treats better, no judgement based on family background, no bullying just pure brotherhood and helping each other.

There are so many and I mean too many more characters to list. The fox King and Queen, the snake couple and their son. The bratty cousin of Ye Hua, the most disgusting villain ever who I wish just died several times-Sujin and so many other characters that I loved to the bits.

Overall this drama has great cast, godly soundtrack, beautiful cinematography and a heart wrenching story spanning three lifetimes. And MARK CHAO!!!! What else do you need. If you like xianxia this a cult classic. Don't wait any longer just watch it! ♡

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Awesome but also not so awesome

Comparing to the book - which was extremely monotonous - the series is actually quite nice to watch. Watching the love story between Bai Qian and Ye Hua is extremely awesome, touching, saddening at parts but extremely heart warming. The many side stories they created - some are very nice but some are just painful to watch. The saddest part is watching how they made Dong Hua and Feng Jiu become tragic star crossed lovers. Would have been nice if they would have at least followed thru with how the books portrayed them instead of making them so tragic in this series but then so happy ending in the Eternal Love of Dream. The songs are also extremely beautiful.

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Even after reading spoilers, I watched this through and loved it.

Let me preface this by saying I was really impatient and wanted to know what would happen so I went ahead and read the second half of the show’s episode summaries on someone’s blog. I still watched all of the episodes after spoiling the story and looked forward to doing so. And even though I knew what was coming, I still felt all the emotions and am glad I watched it through.

Reading someone else’s summary may have colored my opinion a little bit as I can see why some may think there are moments the show drags but to me it wasn’t so bad. That’s really the only reason I give it a 9.5/10.

58 episodes sounds daunting and ridiculous but I legitimately blew through the series within a week. And I loved it - it was an adventure. Music was beautiful. The show was beautiful even with its bad CGI. I recommend this if you are looking to disappear into a fantasy world where time operates differently and watch a love story blossom.

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Must watch!!!! You will fall in love !

I don’t know what words to use to describe my love for this drama. I love it’s so much and have rewatch 30 times already !!! Lol I’m obsessed! After watching this drama, I find it hard for me to watch any other drama now. I’ve watch lots and lots of movies and drama in my life but this one is absolutely my favorite!!! I can say with confidence!!!

I love most about the drama is the love story of Ye Hua and Bai Qian. The acting was spectacular especially Mark Chao and Yang Mi. Mark Chao is my favorite and I truly believe he is the reason this drama is so love. , His character as either Mo Yuan or Ye Hua is so easily to fall in love with because he is that good at acting. Chemistry was flawless. A transparent love was beautifully portrayed; you could feel their love and pain and share their happiness. Kiss scenes are the best!!! Lol

This is truly a masterpiece !!!! Eternal Love is my all time favorite!!!

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Classic Chinese Fantasy story with Love, Angst, and Family Drama

So, I'm probably one of the few that JUST watched Eternal Love: Three Lives, Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms. I'm glad they shortened the tv drama to just "Eternal Love" from the title of the book. Whew, what a name :)
To start off, I read that this story reminded people of Ashes of Love, which I absolutely LOVED. Ever since watching the 60 or so episodes of Ashes of Love, I was heartbroken and so tired. Ashes of Love is one of those drawn-out dramas where it will rip out your heart, put it back together again, only to rip it out again. But this review is about Eternal Love, sorry for the rambling.
I've only watched Yang Mi and Mark Chao in fantasy/wuxia dramas. I find these two actors portray wuxia/historial dramas very well as they both have extraordinary talents in the various roles they've played.
I hesitated to watch Eternal Love because I didn't want to feel the same emotions that Ashes of Love gave me. Again, that drama was brilliant but after weeping with sorrow, joy, and elation over the characters in the show, I was physically and emotionally drained.
While Eternal Love didn't leave me with the same feelings as Ashes of Love, it was still long enough (58 episodes) to really pull me into the storyline and live the lives of the main characters. Eternal Love is one of those fantasy dramas that you have to watch just to experience a range of emotions (I don't like dramas that are too easy - there needs to be a good range of emotions).
The main characters, Bai Qian and Ye Hua are ill-fated lovers. Destined to fall in love but pulled apart for thousands of years in between their fated love stories. The "three lives" part comes in with mostly Yang Mi's characters, which are Si Yin, SuSu, and Bai Qian. In reality, there is only one character - Bai Qian, the High Goddess and Queen of the Fox clan. But there are three lives due to the circumstances she put herself in and that others put her in. As was explained later on in the story that Bai Qian had to go through love trials, the show didn't really explain that part in detail. It was just shown to us her sad and tragic circumstance that wasn't entirely her fault. I liked all three "characters" but felt SuSu was where Yang Mi really shined. Yang Mi played all of her roles quite well, with SuSu being more vulnerable and showing her range of acting skills.
Mark Chao's character, Ye Hau, the Crown Prince of the Heaven clan reminded me a lot of his character in Ying Yang Master. They both wore black clothing and had a very stoic and serious demeanor. I understood why Ye Hua was that way and I'm glad they made him more serious rather than a flimsy playboy that you find in other fantasy/wuxia dramas. Ye Hua was intelligent, kind, and brave and the moment he met Bai Qian, his character completely changed. He felt real love and emotions for the first time and he was determined to keep that and never let go.
The side characters were all interesting, especially the ones that helped Bai Qian. There's a side story of Bai Fengjiu and Dong Hua that had their own tragic love story. I guess there's another Eternal Love spinoff with these two.
My favorite "villains" were Ghost clan royal prince Li Jing who was handsome, tormented, and was overall a good person. He fell in love with Si Yin whom he immediately knew was a girl in disguise as a man and after that, his own story took a tragic turn as well. Poor Li Jing - tried to do the right things but had many obstacles along the way -namely his "wife" the evil and selfish Xuan Nu. I also liked Yan Zhi, the sister and royal princess of the Ghost clan. The young Fire Qilin was quite adorable too, especially his costume.
There are many characters in Eternal Love, and they all played a critical role in the drama. I liked that all of these characters were easy to keep track of. Some had longer appearances which revealed more of their character and motives, such as Su Jin (evil character) and Bai Fengjiu (good character). I think they all did a pretty good job with the roles they were given.
Overall, Eternal Love isn't too complicated nor too light-hearted. There aren't any heavy handed plots or side storylines that got confusing. As I said, all the characters play a role in this drama and their roles blended well into the entire series.
Two side things I must note: 1 - the girls fawning over Ye Hua got a bit tiring and contrite. Yes, he's a single, sexy, high powered male God that every Immortal wants. But come on - let's stop it with the every girl must act like lovesick puppies trope. 2- there is a sexual situation in the story which some reviewers either liked or disliked. While I don't condone such acts, I can see why Ye Hua did what he did. It wasn't graphic or anything, but he's a flawed character who has never experienced romantic love and has to reign in his emotions at all times. Of course once he meets the love of his life he's going to get a little crazy in the love aspect.

Spoiler here for the ending if you don't want to know...


It is a happy ending (YAY!!!) I dread sad endings or cliffhanger endings where you're left guessing or wondering what actually happened. If I'm going to invest at least 40 some episodes of a TV show, then it better have a happy ending, haha!
The ending was explained and I was satisfied with the ending and the happy outcome of Bai Qian and Ye Hua.
I was sad however for Ghost clan princess Yan Zhi and Kunlun student Zi Lan, whom they developed a loving and trustworthy relationship while they were in the mortal world. In my mind, I hoped they were able to reconcile and be together as a couple. They were both so cute and kind to each other, how could they not have their own happily ever after?
Overall, Eternal Love is your traditional good versus evil, High Immortals versus regular Immortals, and lots and lots of misunderstandings!!! Oh, but what good drama doesn't have misunderstandings? That's how they torture us viewers :)
There are elements of death, sexuality, and bad judgments, so this show might not be suitable for children. The mortal realm was fun to watch but the show didn't delve too much into it. Of course in the mortal realm there are bad and good people just like in the Immortal realms!!! There are also serious family drama with the Immortals just like the mortals...which makes you realize that the Gods aren't so perfect after all, are they? :) The mystical and fantasy aspects of the nine-tailed foxes were also a delight to watch, although the CGI wasn't the greatest :)
I recommend Eternal Love. I was able to watch this in less than a week and pretty much nonstop, ha!!!

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Bigotry is just an ignorant failure to see the divinity hiding deep within every person.

Eternal Love focuses on the perspective of a highly respected Goddess. She has a warm and trusting heart, yet is betrayed by those who she thought were closest to her. Eventually a bitter war takes her dear master from her and she retreats from the world in her depression. Disaster strikes and the Goddess is injured so badly that she forgets everything and becomes a mortal. The prince of heaven is also injured while fighting and becomes a wounded snake in the mortal realm. The goddess lovingly cares for the snake because she has no other family in the mortal realm to care for. The snake eventually transforms back into a man and they fall in love.

The Prince of Heaven never knows his wife's real identity as the High Goddess of the wildlands. He loves her despite her lack of status. But the corrupt Gods and Goddesses in heaven are bigoted towards this new mortal gaining entry to heaven and plot her demise.

The message behind Eternal Love is to not focus so much on outward appearances and status, since those things are not true markers for inner beauty and character. Bigotry is just an ignorant failure to see the divinity hiding deep within every person. Love is put to the test as conflicts block their ability to see things from each other's perspective. In the end, the ultimate sacrifice is required to save the world. Who should die to save the world? Is saving the world more important than true love?

More philosophical reviews: https://transcendentphilos.wixsite.com/website/post/the-philosophy-of-chinese-dramas

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First & Favorite

This was my first chinese drama and easily still my favorite. Xianxia genre is my genre of choice but not many out there that are worthy of a 10 star praise. TMOPB is the best. It has it all. Wonderful depictionof chinese mythology. The most amazing cinematography. Beautiful music that still gives me goosebumps. Gorgeous actors...Mark Chao is my all time Hollywood/Chinawood crush and favorite Asian actor. Best chemistry and skin ship in any drama I have seen. I have watched this masterpiece at least 5 times and know I will many more in the future. The kid actor is also the cutest child actor ever! If I had to make any complaintsit would probablybe the cheesiness of the ultimate villians being the head of ghost tribe and mer people tribe...makeup and acting of those were definitely wanting. My favourite villian was Sujin/concubine.... a story is only as good as its villian....and in my preference...in the justice that is served yo them.... and this was so satisfying. Applause to actress who played that evil jealous bitch. Standing ovation to all screenwriters , cast, crew, director and musicians who made such a magical world come to life.

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A MASTERPIECE. Don't miss it....

In my TOP 5 of Xianxia, ​​addictive, with a bunch of star actors.

I hesitated to embark on this great epic with 58 episodes, with stories (complicated turns) between a celestial universe, tribulations among mortals, court intrigues among immortals,... I was wrong because you should not this MASTERPIECE drama!!

The story is complex, but coherent and well written. The characters are well developed (even the worst ones).
The production is dynamic and the special effects of high quality (although we often feel the shooting on a green screen;). Even the OSTs are epic and emotional...

I also have to praise the actors:
- The interactions in the 2 main couples (Ye Hua & Bai Qian + Dong Hua & Fengjui) are SWEET, intense and emotional, and even sometimes funny.
- We hate evil characters, very frustrating for the viewer because we are dying to see their horrible end for so many episodes!

In short, they make us experience heaps of emotions (a real roller coaster) during this magnificent story. KUDOS !
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Dans mon TOP 5 des Xianxia, addictif, avec un paquet d'acteurs stars.

J'avais hésité à me lancer dans cette grande fresque de 58 épisodes, avec des histoires (tours compliquées) entre un univers céleste, des tribulations chez les mortels, des intrigues de cour chez les immortels,... J'avais tort car il ne faut pas passer à côté de ce drama CULTISSIME !!

L'histoire est complexe, mais cohérente et bien écrite. Les personnages sont bien développés (même les pires).
La réalisation est dynamique et les effets spéciaux d'une grande qualité (bien qu'on sente fréquemment les tournages sur fond vert ;). Même les OST sont géniales.

Je dois aussi faire l'éloge des acteurs:
- Les interactions dans les 2 couples principaux (Ye Hua & Bai Qian + Dong Hua et Fengjui) sont savoureuses, intenses et émotionnelles, et même parfois drôles.
- On déteste les evil characteres, très frustrants pour le spectateur car on meurt d'envie de voir leur fin horrible pendant tant d'épisodes !

Bref, ils nous font vivre des tas d'émotions (un roller coaster) au cours de cette histoire magnifique. BRAVO ! Je le regarderai certainement à nouveau, car l'histoire est tellement belle....

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