Ashes of Love (2018)

Ive rewatched this drama 2 times just to understand what was really happening, if you skip you can miss so many things and the entire story can just be ruined. There are so many problems and good things that happen in this which can get you in your feelings, i swear that the first time i watched this i cried like 7 times. Maybe its just me but they make the characters so dumb sometimes, especially the female lead! Dont get me wrong, i love the acting but Jin mi cant even understand the simplest situations, especially at the beginning and end. She always needs help from others and then to just have sui he take all the credit? I feel like its the same thing over and over again. The storyline could have been even better if it was scripted correctly. It also broke my heart because no matter how hard Runyu tries he never gets anything his way. He just wants a comfortable life with someone to love him and they couldnt even give him a happy ending. Hee risks his life for Jin mi and she cant even make him happy, she doesnt have to love him but at least they can be friends.

Im not going to go ahead and fix any grammar/spelling mistakes cause im lazy
This is my opinion so dont come at me ;)

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Ashes of Love - Review

Ashes of Love was a nice, cute, but sad drama. The start was kinda funny, with Jing Mi being so cute and the scene where she calls the male lead, which is a pheonix, but she calls him a raven, was hilarious. I like the heaven realm. Its really pretty and magical and the costumes were all pretty - no strange hairstyles or garments. I think they ceretainly put some effort into the costumes. The part when they go to the human realm was sortta romantic, i guess. and i liked that the other character that liked Jing Mi wasnt there most of the time, so he couldnt reallly interfere. The scenes after were all sad though. So much plotting, Jing Mi's dad dying, Jing Mi not being the cute adorable girl she was at the start after seeing all the death and stuff, Jing Mi killing the male lead, her trying to save the lead but always getting hurt, everything. really depressing. but good series overall and i can see why its so popular.

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one of the best historical.

I am a british chinese and i first got into Chinese dramas last Christmas when london was in its second lockdown and have been addicted ever since. ashes of love was my 5th drama. at first, I just wanted to try it, as I thought I would not be able to finish a 63 ep drama. but as soon as I got used to yangzhi and dengren's acting, I was addicted. I literally feel like I was in the drama, I cried, laughed, felt furious throughout the whole thing which was a first time for me and that is why I love this drama. the cast was the best, with my fav yangzhi, who is funny and can make me laugh every second but also cry my eyes out during the sad scenes. you guys should also check it out <3

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I loved it.

I have to say Ashes of Love is my best Chinese drama. Infact, it is one of my all time favorite drama. I loved it. I was a true rollercoaster ride. I was impressed with the quality. The music, cinematography was just beautiful.

Ashes to Love was a beautiful story and the FL had a lot character development. From not even knowing who or what she truly was to understanding what she needed to do fulfil her destiny. The characters in the show were great. Jinmi and Phoenix had great chemistry. The whole cast did a great job. If I could if the show more than 10 points I would.

I asked two of my friend who had never was an Asian drama to try it and they loved it also. I highly recommend it.

The one flaw is that it is 63 episodes. That is long. Even so, there are some episodes I cant help but to rewatch.

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Capolavoro con effetti speciali migliorabili

Se si vuole vedere un fantasy pieno di intrighi, complotti, colpi di scena e buoni effetti speciali consiglio la visione perché questi aspetti meritano un bel 10 pieno, sarebbe una sorta di game of thrones asiatico casto , privo di passione, sensualità e sesso (che penso lo avrebbero reso più interessante).
Se invece sperate in una storia d'amore strappa lacrime, vi dico che c'è, c'è anche il triangolo amoroso e ce ne è più di una ma di amore in 60 puntate c'è più un'idea , attraverso dialoghi e struggimenti, le scene d'amore reali in una serie così lunga sono davvero poche, molto poche (in proporzione).
Pertanto consiglio per la storia ma non per la storia d'amore. Finale non deludente (questo conta tanto) .
Interpretazione magistrale del Dio della Notte, che secondo me ha convinto proprio attraverso questo drama e la sua figura del demone di till end of moon prende spunto da qui.
Ho letto nelle recensioni che l'eccezionalità di questo drama sono gli effetti speciali e vi dico sì, ha una bellissima fotografia ma certi effetti sono stati migliorati nel 2024 , e ne decantano il fatto che non annoia mai. Invece su questo devo dissentire, molte scene le troverete inutili, cioè dei riempitivi che nulla aggiungono e tolgono alla storia e in una serie così lunga potevano alleggerire o essere utilizzati per creare qualche momento in più nella relazione amorosa tra i personaggi, specialmente gli episodi dal 22 al 33 io li ho trovati molto più lenti e ho rallentato il binge , passando alla visione di soli 3 episodi al giorno, perché ho trovato tutto troppo trascinato , senza slanci romantici che mi potessero aiutare ad apprezzarne la visione.
La storia d'amore tra i due attori principali mi ha convinto solo in parte, bei dialoghi ma in certi momenti poco credibili, sia lui che lei.

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-Story-
This is really one of the rare historical fantasy drama that I ever watched finish. It was engaging and brought me a lot of laughter and tears. A lot of tears. The best part for me is that I can see character development for the characters in this show. You can witness each character mature over the experiences. The story builds up slowly and consistently which is something that I really appreciate. The only down point for me was that the story of Liu Ying and her dude was so much unnecessary. I mean it could have existed but maybe not so detailed. Other than that, it was great. The story was definitely well planned and concluded nicely.

-Acting/Cast-
MAJOR THUMBS UP TO THE CAST! Really one of the best cast you will every get. I think all the actors/actresses did well but Im just gonna focus on the 3 major roles.

Firstly, Yang Zi. Her acting shocked me so much. Before this drama, I have watched her reality/variety shows and drama Ode to Joy. So my impression of her was kinda stuck at the bright, easygoing and funny kind of girl. But JIN MI was so so so cuteeeee! The not annoying kind of cute. Her voice was like so different from how she speaks in reality so I was really shock. She did so well in acting naive and all innocent cause I thought it was going to be annoying for me. Also, her crying scenes was WOW. Cant help but cry with her cause I can feel the emotions of Jin Mi through her acting. LOVE HER.

Secondly, Deng Lun. I must admit that Im not a big fan of him but he was so good looking in this drama. He carried the aura of Xu Feng well (as a general). You can see the process of him falling in love with Jin Mi and there were a lot of details in his acting. I was super impressed by his acting at THE MAJOR SCENE (I shall not spoil too much) when he showed the disbelief, shock, disappointment and grief in a matter of few minutes. Definitely a talented actor.

Lastly, Luo Yun Xi. I really hated and loved him so much in this drama. How can someone look so good in white.... You hate him for being cruel to Jin Mi and Xu Feng but you can't help to feel sad for him too. From kindness to revenge, I think he did well in showing how the character went through the setbacks and how he changes mentality.

-Production-
I really have to include this is my review- giving my thumbs up to the production team! If you guys watched any of the BTS, you can see that many of the scenes are actually real (not green screen). And you can see the details that the team have included in their scenes and costumes. All these effort ELEVATED my whole experience of the drama.

-Music-
I am pretty sure many of us who have watched this drama still feel like tearing when you hear Mao Buyi start singing. If I'm not wrong, Sa Ding Ding was the music director of this drama (she acted in it too) and no doubt she was a good one. And I loved all the OSTs of this drama. Honourable mention to the leads for singing one of the songs, I think it was a brilliant rendition.

63 episodes is very long indeed. But it was worth the time for me. Just prepare more tissues when you reach the later part of the story. I am so thankful I watched this cause I was never a fan of historical fantasy kind of drama. Now go watch it.

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If you madly finding a show which is all rounder ,now here this drama is the best choice?. how❓

Its starting is really beautifully designed🥰, which gives a grate turn to the story, and makes you more excited, as far as you go you will find it more interesting.
With many secrets, plots, different characters, turning points, this drama becamed more touching, or compel you to watch next next and next episode.
Every actor is extremely talented in their own role. As D is really played amazingly.
During watching this series I brokedown 😭many times ,its half told scenes at confession makes it more touching.
And there is a turning point which made me madly crazy to love this series. I cried to much at that point and in the last episodes..its story is well written, I really wanted to tell you my most touching moment but don't want to spoil your story mood...which made me like this drama more is the role of main actor(fenghuang)❤, Which is to powerfull and active.

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Only Good Because of Select A Few Episodes

Overall: I actually don't know where to start. Starting out it was okay and it got better in the middle, but then the ending was just disappointing and could have been wrapped up a lot sooner. If I were to be very honest, this drama could have just been around 40-50 episodes, I don't understand and don't know why it starting dragging out so much after 50.

Acting/Cast: I didn't really have much of an issue with the cast. The main cast, the two male leads and the female lead are suitable for their roles and they did their best to act out their characters, but their characters have issues and the character development was quite poor.

Story/Plot/Character: Most reviews that gave this drama a bad ending was because of Jin Mi's character and I honestly don't blame them. She IS extremely naive, airheaded, and perhaps ignorant as there was an episode that showed she didn't even know what gender she was. She's so clueless with the world outside because she was sheltered for about 4,000 years of her life so I completely understand why her character was the way it was so it didn't particularly bother me because I knew that. One thing that bothered me was how they overly dramatized how her mother got heartbroken. I completely understand because I've been there but I don't see how it could be such a huge deal other than the fact the Heavenly Empress tried to kill her.

My favorite arc was the mortal arc was where she finally snapped and told Fire Immortal that she liked him and after that, I felt that her character development was finally really starting to take shape, but then they made a twist where she suddenly doesn't know what love feels like anymore, that was very repelling and I felt like they did that just to drag the drama on even longer. There were one too many twists to be considered "good" for this drama. Another note to add was there were also way too many "useless" episodes in this drama. The little princess from the demon realm and her boyfriend was the least interesting part of this drama and I had to skip through those scenes because, honestly, I did not care. I didn't notice how many episodes were about these two until I skipped multiple episodes just to see the main lead together more. Another issue was that there doesn't seem to be any proper character development within the main leads if anyone had proper character development to begin with.

Personally, I could only stand to watch this drama with selective episodes. There are just too many episodes that dragged on for no particular reason and could have been a lot shorter.

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My first Chinese drama - which I will not forget

This is a beautiful Xian Xia drama that I would recommend anyone who loves Romance, great acting and beautiful costumes. I have not watched a Chinese drama for years until Youtube inserted a beautiful edited video of Ashes of Love into my playlist. I immediately fell in love with the tragic love story between the three main leads, the gorgeous cast and the marvelous shots.

I will quickly run through my 7 criteria (definitions below the review):

1. Emotional rollercoaster: 5/5 ★★★★★
Oh yes! This drama had so many up and downs, melting moments but also tearing scenes between the two main leads that it was bad for my heart. I deeply fell in love with Deng Lung who played Feng Huang as he all to well embodied this proud, strong, loving and later on hurt and nonchalant phoenix. Also hat down to the acting skills of our female lead Yang Zi and Male Lead 2 Leo Luo. Both of them really make the characters alive.
There is a famous climax in the middle at which Jing Mi said: "never" to our ML - this one of the most heartbreaking scenes in a romance drama I have seen.

2. Sleepless Nights: 5/5 ★★★★★
I binged-watched this drama from begin to the end

3. Natural and intelligent Storytelling: 4/5 ★★★★☆
Most of the part the writing is logic and convincing. Only that towards end, some actions of Run Yu felt a bit too farfetched. Though I completely understand the reason behind his "turning-evil", his actions sabotaged his real character, which is still kind and loving. It felt slightly unnatural for me.

4. Loveable supporting Roles: 3/5 ★★★☆☆
There are a 1-2 very succssful supporting roles, esp. Dan Zhu, played by Xia Zhi Yuan, is my favourite. His acting is very natural. Despite playing a young man by look, his performance really reminds me of a old man. The demon princess, casted by Yukee Chen, also caried out well. However, for most part, I find most supporting characters realtively one-dimensional and not deep enough. That goes for our FL2/anti-hero, Sui He, the heavenly couples and Mu Ci. Thus they feel very much like medium to carry the story forward as opposed to personalities the audience can empathize with.

5. Proper Pacing: 3/5 ★★★☆☆
With 63 episodes, this is once again a drama that could have been shortened. Towards the later half of the drama, there is a lot of air time for the love story of demon princess and Muci, which felt draggy. Though both actors don't lack in acting skills, there was little chemistry between them, and the audience cannot really relate to their tragic story.

6. Technicalities: 4/5 ★★★★☆
For most of the part, I think the CGI has been executed well. The sets are a bit bright and too colorful, but overall it depicts the XianXia vibe well. The main song is also beautiful, is just that it was played too often - I wished they had more variations when it comes to background music.

7. Solid Final: 4/5: ★★★★☆
The ending of this drama was beautiful and sweet. The scenes at which finally all misunderstandings were resolved and the evil doings of the antagonists were revealt provided a lot satisfaction.
I just wished that the last 1/3rd of the drama could have been shortened. Also, the scenes before the ending, the acting/character design of Feng Huang showed a bit too much sorrow. But that's my personal taste.

Ashes of Love is and will remain a legendary drama for me as it has punched me back into the Chinese drama land, which I will be forever grateful. This is a work of art no-one should miss.

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Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:

After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.). The degree on how much I care about the fate of the main leads.
2. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have the proper motivation behind their actions.
5. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
6. "Technicalities": professional camera works and shots, fight scenes, color grading, lighting, editing, music, sets, costumes, use of CGI etc. I try to grade this in relation to the drama budget, so a low-budget drama can equally get a high score when used at the right place
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that start to lose their grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.

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The most magically woven drama

Let me tell you, I am NOT a fan of Xianxia or Wuxia C-Dramas, but this one just won my heart not once, but over and over again. The leads, YangZi, DengLun and Luo YunXi... They were just amazing. The story, from first to last, was so beautifully made, it feels like you're present right there, in the drama. Even the villains and antagonists perfectly acted their parts, making me hate them so much, which was in fact, the sole purpose after all. The way the story unfolded in every episode was just, Chef's Kiss. Yeah I agree that in some parts, JinMi was annoying and dumb, but you'll see that you can't even blame her for that.
All in all, it was the most amazing xianxia drama I've ever seen, and there were no scope of getting bored. I would definitely recommend this

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