Lost Love in Times (2017)

Its over finally...
This drama was headed for 10pts, then the dreaded 12eps just pooched the whole thing.
Story: not new: goddess/sorceress entangles hearts with the handsome prince. Complete with sibling rivalry, political mess, whacked daddy emperor, maternal power plays and always helpful eunuchs or little brothers to keep the crap going.
Acting:  Nothing stood out as bad and all filled their roles. The triangle of love always involve the pretty ones.
Music: did not get in the way - fit the mood and actions
RW: not soon... and maybe
Overall: costumes, locations, and actions are memorable and grab you immediately. CGI was breathtaking.  The drama is from a popular book and thus being a book person, the book is always better (until translated for me) however the on-screen story seem to lag/weigh down with the AChai tribe princess obsession (way over-done), Ling mother demon crap, Ming dead-alive act, crazy emperor act. The audience got the pic of these "lost" folks yet we had to endure painstaking eps that could have been eliminated to provide a better ending.  The final eps felt rushed, incomplete and bam done! When so much time was spent on characters who added no growth or value. This drama would have been great at  42-45 eps max.  Glad I watched, just not happy with direction and length - drama overlords really pooched this drama!

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Could have been great but sizzles out in the second half

Completed - 11/13/2021

I enjoy fantasy + historical dramas and am attracted to the plot summary of "Lost Love in Times". However, after watching the drama, I realized that the MDL synopsis only describes the first 5 episodes of the drama. This drama has so much potential and I enjoy it quite a bit in the first half of the show. However, it lost its steam and the story became just a repetitive court politics drama where everyone fights for the throne. There's not enough magic or battles to keep me engaged.

What I enjoy:
1. Production Value - This drama might not have the same budget as "The Rebel Princess" but you can tell that money is there for it to have such elaborate costumes for its characters. The women have nice beautiful outfits, creative hairstyles and accessories. I really like the style of the princes and their unique little bow in the front of their costumes. They even have different accessories for their hair buns! I don't recall seeing that in other dramas. For some reason, the actual emperor's palace sets do not look very grand, but the princes' accommodations look pretty big and nice, and give off a very comforting feel. I would love to see more CGI with the magic, but what they have, I enjoy. I really like the colored butterflies. What a beautiful and classy way to show magic.

2. Love Square - This drama must have one of the healthiest and most amicable love square between our main and secondary leads. We have our second male lead, 7th Prince, who is not jealous but love our FL passionately yet quietly, and willing to do anything for her. He is not pushy!! We have our second female lead, Princess Duo Xia, who did not turn evil because her love was not reciprocated. She patiently waits for her chance, is not jealous and befriends our FL. How rare is it in C-dramaland?

3. 7th Prince (2ML) - I might have second lead syndrome in this drama, which I usually don't esp. for a historical drama. I like the 7th Prince so much more than our main lead, and feel that at times he has better chemistry with our FL than ML. I enjoy the scenes where they're playing music, simple gardening together and the scene with the blue stone. I can feel his love for FL and the quiet longing and heartbreak. I don't think he's better looking but there's just something about him that makes me love him more.

What I don't like:
1. Main Romance - The whole drama is based upon this great love and romance in the 1st world. Otherwise, FL won't go through all that for ML. However, the setup of this great romance is quite lacking and happens too fast. FL and ML fall in love, got married and willing to die for each other, all within the first 5 episodes of the drama. This drama is 56-episode long and I think it can afford to dedicate a little more time to show us how this great romance develops. Once we enter the 2nd world, the new romance is developed a lot better. I enjoy how they got to know each other, what they went through together in all the fighting and scheming, jealousy and all. But once they got together, the romance came to a stall and fizzles out. Even though there were romantic scenes, I don't feel the chemistry between them. I am not sure if this is due to acting, writing or editing. I also don't think there are enough scenes of the two together in the second half.

2. Pacing - I was cautiously optimistic in the beginning, because the pacing is quite good in the first 30 episodes.
However, it slows down in the second half. We have repetitive scheming for the throne and court politics. We cycled through all the princes but not enough backstory for each of them. There's a lot of telling instead of showing. The plot about the marriage alliance also drags on for far too long.

3. Last 2 episodes - I feel like something is edited out and instead of showing the events that happened, we were told about the decisions. I am especially confused about the ending. Why is FL not going back to the 1st world but stayed in the 2nd? Isn't it the whole point is to go back, otherwise she will die? Or is the time traveling has always been back to the 1st world all this time and they are not parallel worlds? Why is Elder Tao Yao alive? I love a happy ending, but this one doesn't make sense for the two Elders to be both alive again, in either world.

4. Not enough Magic/Action - I would have loved to see magic being used more often in this drama. They tend to only use magic to send messages to each other, or the rare battles. I hope to see more battle scenes - with actual fighting and magic. There's a lot more action in the first few episodes and the last few episodes. When they do fight, the choreography was great and the actors did a great job in sword fighting to make it realistic. I don't see any weak sword wielding or someone who can't hold a sword straight. I just wish there's more action instead of so much court politics, or strike a better balance.

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Perfect

There are so many reasons to watch this series. First, it was absolutely amazing. Secondly, the choreography in this series was so well done, even the average person that doesn’t pay attention will notice it all. It’s just that good. Third, the fight scenes are awesome. You will most certainly rewind it to watch it again, they are so detail and acted out perfectly. It almost flawless. 4 the, the plot was great. It was unique and interesting with a good pace. 5th, the music complimented the series so well. This is not an exaggeration. Just watch a fight she and see how the music adds to it almost like a hype man.
Although this is deemed a fantasy series it still manages to speak real truths.
Series revolves around an two powerful people who each have positions in their own territory. It shows how they meet, fall in love and the trials they face to stay together, survive and to protect each other. You’ll get sacrifice of the purest kind here.

What a like most is that it focuses on love, fate, loyalty, brotherhood and so much more. Being a romantic drama mixed with fantasy is also a plus.

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This is what I call best drama.

This drama is just very very good. Here the reason:
-Production: I would the production is very high for this drama, each set is very well design to fit in their story from the palace to the mage school. Since the drama has its own set and time, so the design is its own too. The costume is also very beautiful too.
-Story: all the character has its own side story not just ML. And the way they build up each character is just very satisfied. ML has very well story while didn't out shine the other SL.
-Cast and Performance: this alone is already the best, they perform each set so perfect. I would say well experience cast in this drama.

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Interesting story with a lot of twists, lovely costumes, good acting with handsome actors and pretty actresses, beautiful computer graphics make this a drama worth watching. The lead actors and actresses acted their part well and have great on-screen chemistry.

I had watched this quite a while ago and could not remember all the details but I remember the drama kept me chasing episodes after episodes. If you know the director of this drama also directed Ten mile peach blossom, Love and destiny, Journey of flower, you know the standard to expect.

Insofar, I have only been impressed with 6 actors who are masters with facial expressions and capable of wrenching viewers' hearts - Luo YunXi, Hu Ge, Wallace Huo, Wang Yibo and Zhang Zhen. The actors and actresses in this drama are great but are not in this league yet and therefore the drama is not of that emotional intensity.

Although I would not put it amongst the top league of Nirvana in Fire, Love and Destiny, Ten mile peach blossom, the Untamed etc it is nevertheless a very good production worth watching.

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A disappointment for me, despite the great cast

I like the actors, but this story is twisted and ENDLESS!

PLOT: The FL, mage, meets the ML, 4th Prince, they fall in love. She becomes a Great Witch. The rule is that a mage cannot marry anyone from the imperial family (because of division of powers). But the lovers defy the prohibitions, and on the day of the wedding, there is a coup and it is a bloodbath. The Great Witch uses her 9 sacred stones to reset the "universe". She lands 1 year earlier, in another timeline ready to correct.

+++ Great cast, with excellent actors
+++ Good fight and war scenes
+++ The costumes are truly magnificent.

BUT :
### Convoluted story line, with TOO many characters, too many twists, too much of everything... We're treated to everything: black magic, "zombies", love triangles, power struggles, the inhumane and cruel emperor, corruption, indecisions of the lover of a girl (disguised as a man), etc. etc. TOO MUCH !!
### use of the green background evident in many scenes
### inconsistencies and plotholes in the story

=> Good start, but hard to finish...
***********************************************************************
J'aime les acteurs, mais cette histoire est tordue et INTERMINABLE !

PLOT: La FL, mage rencontre le ML, 4e Prince, ils tombent amoureux. Elle devient Grande Sorcière. La règle veut qu'1 mage ne peut pas épouser qq1 de la famille impériale (car division des pouvoirs). Mais les lovers bravent les interdits, et le jour du mariage, il y a 1 coup d'Etat et c'est 1 bain de sang. La Gde sorcière utilise ses 9 pierres sacrées pr réinitialiser "l'univers". Elle atterrit 1 an + tôt, ds 1 autre ligne de temps pr tt corriger.

+++ Great cast, avec excellents acteurs
+++ Bonnes scènes de fight et de guerre
+++ Les costumes sont vraiment magnifiques.

MAIS :
### Storyline alambiquée, avec TROP de personnages, trop de twists, trop de tout ... On a droit à tout : la magie noire, les "zombies", les love triangles, les luttes de pouvoir, l'empereur inhumain et cruel, la corruption, le lover d'1 fille déguisée en homme, etc. etc. TROP !!
### utilisation du fond vert évidente dans bcp de scènes
### incohérences et plotholes dans l'histoire

=> Bon début, mais du mal à aller jusqu'au bout (Speed X 1,5 & skipping) ...

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Astounding

Lost love in times is a breath of fresh air.

I’ll take you on a ride of my initial thoughts that I felt from beginning to the end of the drama and then from this, you can decide if this is something you may want to watch. My review will have minimal spoilers.

Story: Let’s start with the beginning scenes of Lost Love in Times that I felt were very lackluster. In fact, I was very confused about the story up until episodes 5-8. When I say “confused” I mean it in a way that I couldn’t understand the motives behind the characters or why the story was moving so quickly in it’s progression. It was only until I got to the time travel portion of the drama (episode 5-8) where I began to enjoy the story.

Given that I felt the beginning scenes were rather rushed in showing us the “why” QC and YL were so in love with each other, I wondered how their relationship would progress in the new timeline. It didn’t disappoint me because I got to see the true romance between QC and YL and there are so many cute scenes between them that I couldn’t even pick a favorite one. Touching on the romance aspect of the show, I really enjoyed the fact that there were an abundance of romantic scenes scattered around the 56 episodes. I feel like when I watch historical dramas, they typically start off happy, then move directly into anguish, misunderstandings and heartbreak until we reach the last episode where we finally get our happily ever after (in my case because i don’t watch dramas with sad endings).

I can definitely appreciate the fact that Lost Love in Times is different from any historical drama that I’ve seen plot wise. I haven’t seen any that touch time travel as this drama had, and if you are confused about this aspect of the drama, I’d recommend looking at other reviews that explain it because that’s what I did prior to watching the show.

If I had one critique about this drama, it would have to do with the pacing/dragging that happened towards the middle. I feel like this could’ve been filled with more episodes explaining the love between YL and QC in the first timeline (beginning episodes of the show). As i mentioned, I felt like the beginning episodes failed to show us how they fell in love with each other. The progression into the new timeline should’ve taken longer than 5 episodes to show. I also could’ve done without the last minute unnecessary lying “to protect others” in the second to last episode because I feel as though it wasted some screen time.

There are very few gripes I have about the actual ending. I wish that they’d show us the ending of all major characters. Because while some characters were wrapped up very nicely, other’s were mentioned but not shown.

Characters: I really liked QC. I love seeing strong female characters because it’s very empowering. She definitely gave me the vibe of a less abrasive Fu Yao (from legend of Fu Yao). I also enjoyed the chemistry between QC and YL and I found myself smiling a-lot throughout the duration of this drama. I also found myself loving the 7th prince (which could serve as the second male lead for QC). The 7th prince was pretty quiet and reserved but around QC they really got each other. This gave me off and on second male syndrome.

The actors that played QC and YL were amazing at showing their emotions. I cried with them when they cried and laughed when they laughed. There were some amazing fight scenes towards the end as well so look forward to that.

Music: Astounding. I loved the first opening/ending theme songs. The music throughout the drama seemed to really add to the romantic & sad scenes.

Lastly, it’s a good drama. It has it’s faults with all the lying, scheming and plotting but the main leads definitely make up for that with their love all throughout the story.

Would I rewatch/Could I recommend this story?

I’m not sure about rewatching the entire story. There were too many dragged on scenes for me to sit all the way through this drama. I found myself skipping many scenes that I felt were unnecessary for us to see. But I definitely recommend this drama to anyone looking for a fantasy romance historical drama with a touch of time travel!

**I couldn’t rate this higher than an 8 because of the dragged out scenes, some plot holes and missed opportunities to fully satisfy the viewer.

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A missed opportunity as there's a lot to like in this series, but some major problems too.

Let's start with the good: some great aesthetics, terrific fight scenes and a distinctive look for the characters due to the funky head gear and a wardrobe designer who hasn't met a print they don't want on camera. There's also a significant quest which helps to justify the 50+ episodes. So good so far.

But then...sigh

The writing on this show is uneven. The first section is rushed and viewers have to take for granted that there is a great big love affair here. This needed a bit more development considering it's the central plot point. After that, we get a lot of plots that don't go anywhere. They just serve as distractions and they don't even get the courtesy of being wrapped up before the story moves on. Ugh.

Also, so much of this is spent in discussion rather than showing what's happening. It's so conveluted things don't make sense like how they got to the ending.

Lastly, the lead male actor is attractive, but.....boring. He doesn't have the range to make the character really interesting and half way through I had no clue why we were supposed to cheer him on. Every other prince was more interesting and better developed. So aside from the main character, everyone is great.

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Hello everyone!

Well, i ve already watched 3L3WTMPB (or eternal love-the drama) and also the Rise of Phoenixes, so i had very high expectations.

But this one, was horrible in every way. No acting at all from the two main leads. Not even face expressions.
It was even worse to me, than Princess Agent (especially the male lead of PA, who was like a statue during the whole drama).
As for the storyline, i found it boring, no side stories to feed the main line, not even the drama i expected.
I would easily watch it though, if the main leads were acting like actors! But i was shocked from their icy attitude.
The only one who was good at it was Dong Han at the role of Xi Xie.
Over all, i found it such a waste of time to watch

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I loved watching this drama...it started my adventure into Chinese dramas.  I used to only watch kdramas...not anymore. I watch both.  The acting was great.  There was some love/hate for some of the actors but that makes the drama seem real. Everybody has that one person or persons that just make you want to see them disappear.  The fight scenes were awesome.  I love the story and the music was also fantastic.  After the series ended...I wished there were more episodes.  I went back to re-watch it.  Perhaps there can be a follow up with the new emperor and his brothers.  
  I just love historical dramas and this one is in my top 10.

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Time Travel Can Get Weird

So, this drama was fine. Until it wasn’t. I loved the performances, and the plot was interesting, but something to note about time travel is that it can make no sense if not done well.

The ending, at least in my view, made everything the FL did pointless. Her only achievement was making the original villain have a conscience, but he still maintained the same position as emperor in the end.

You could argue that the world would be better with a kind Emperor, but he also ends up with an illness he doesn’t originally have. Who is to say that the ML won’t end up as emperor? But that is all speculation.

The ending is based on the fact that a change in conscience will result in a change in action, and I simply don’t agree. The ending in the context of time travel ruined the drama for me.

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More like a Stage Drama than a Cinematic Drama

After she go to another alternate timeline I find this drama to be worth watching before that it's so random & have no context at all. All the characters have more than one objective to achieve, it's so complex & full of unanswered questions. VFX so cheesy maybe low budget & the over use of wire work seems so unprepared became so funny. Some fight scenes are well done but mostly just ridiculous. I watched this series because Liu shi shi starred in it. It's a good drama but I can't watch it twice. What i praise about this was portrayal of Loyalty, Betrayal, Loneliness, Revenge, Hypocrite, Brotherhood, Family relationship, Responsibility, Greedy, Narcissistic & Love.

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