Cang Lan Jue (2022)

Best Visual Effect this year for Xian Xia Drama

Randomly pick this drama and my first impression from the poster is : oh another Xian Xia Idol drama because it’s only have 36 episodes and have lesser high profile casts. But uh oh… when I watched the first 3 episodes, I’ve changed my mind! It really took me by surprise ! Everything about this drama was so epic : the cinematography, special effect, prop, backsound and what impressed me the most is Dylan Wang’s acting skill! The scenes when he had to swap body with Orchid was very convincing, from his gesture, mimic and reaction it was beyond my expectation. Whether as a Demon King or Orchid in a male body, he really nailed his role and blend well with his characters. All the emotions were perfectly portrayed, from cold and domineering Demon Lord to Timid and cute Orchid. And his dubber voice was perfect, l doubt it will have the same effect if he use his own voice for this drama, his voice is a little bit childish for me lol not suitable for the mighty Demon King. But…. he is slaying hot with his black costume and that magnificent head piece of him. I wonder how many female fans drooling over him now LOL. And for Esther Yu her voice was perfectly fit for her character, cute and bubbly with her pouting mouth LOL

As a xianxia drama lover, what i enjoy the most from this drama is its visual effects and artistic background design. The money really well spent In this aspect, for me it’s useless if you have an A List actor/actress in a drama but the visual effect look cheap. Ofcourse the acting is the key point too, but it will drag a drama down if the visual is bad. The world building in this drama was portrayed so beautiful and mesmerizing with smooth graphics, hands up for the production team to give more attention for this. I hope this will inspire others production house to follow the same road with them.

The story itself is simple and not new for xianxia drama, all the xianxia trope were here : Cold Male Lead, Bubbly Female Lead, one of them sacrificing for others, Hidden Identity of the Female Lead, etc. But what makes it enjoyable to watch is this drama doesn’t have unnecessary filler scenes, except for the twin sister revelation. It feel too rushed and have no point, maybe because the actress who play Dan Yin Role has an issue and all her scenes were deleted from the drama, that’s why we feel it that way.

There is one thing that I think can make this drama more epic : the war scene at the end of the drama, it feels like an anti klimaks for me, it just too low key and quite. Maybe if this drama have more episodes the ending wont feel a little bit rushed. But overall this is a MUST watch drama for Xianxia lover, you will get hooked from the first episodes and get fascinating by it’s visual aspect

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Love is the Panacea.

Love between Fairy and Devil is a really beautiful package full of charms. This drama is highly entertaining. Every episode is fast-paced. Overall, this drama has its own charisma, and a strong, undeniable charm. This drama definitely deserves international recognition.
Yet, the title is a bit misleading. The main male lead is devilish and truly evil only in the first 2 or 3 episodes. After that he transitions to a mild borderline anti- hero for just another twelve episodes, and from episode 16 onwards, the moon supreme ( main male lead) starts to soften up into a gentler version of his former self with occasional spells of bad temper & deception. This is so different from the portrayal of the devilish, anti-hero demon king in the original story, Cang Lan Jue.
The demon king in the novel is completely invincible, and almost invulnerable, and acts, thinks like a proper anti-hero at appropriate moments, most of the time uptill the middle & final sections of the novel. In the novel, the existence of the demon king's powers isn't dependent on some other factors such as removal of emotions. Those powers are always there whether or not he gets emotions. But, when the demon king gets back his heart, his appearance & powers improve for the better( which kind of gives a good feel while reading this part in the novel).
So, as a fan of the novel, watching the main lead portrayed this way with his set of emotional problems & weaknesses, and introduction of a second male lead in the drama version of the story was a bit disappointing. In addition, some adventurous episodes narrated in the novel got omitted. All these modifications kind of took away the beauty of the original story. This aside, little Orchid is more astute & less naive, at times, than she is in the novel. Her love for the male lead is less unconditional than in the novel. So, because of this, I felt the "opposites attract" theme kind of got toned down or diluted a lot in the drama version of the story. Overall, the plotline in the beginning had more potential which could've been fully realized in episodes, 35 & 36.

Despite all this, the drama version of the story is really addictive & gives the viewer feel-good thrills.

Later, as the plot progresses, just felt bad for the tragic character Ronghao and his love story with Chi Di Nu Zi, former goddess of war, but the love story of this master and disciple is ten times better than their love story in the original story, Can Lan Jue. I'm really glad this drama production team gave Ronghao character room for redemption. I just wish the script writers gave Ronghao & Chi Di a happy ending of their own somehow. But still glad to see the small villian making the right choice in the end after being tempted by the big villian. Now that's called character!
I also don't understand why the hypocrite, too strict & rigid heavenly emperor , Lord Yunzhong character was designed & written in a way as to be spared punishment in the story of this drama.

This drama presents a happy ending. The only problem is that the happy moments lasts only for a few fleeting seconds or a minute or two.
It left me wanting more of those happy ending -moments between the main leads. Perhaps a scene could've have also been included towards the end in the drama where goddess Xi Yun shows her little orchid side of her personality towards Dongfang & her friends, and Dongfang returning as Moon supreme with goddess Xi Yun as his moon queen & wife to take over the reigns from his brother, Xunfeng to rule his realm, Canglang Sea.
So I need a short second season. The two epilogue-like episodes are really cute and really sweet, but most of the scenes were already shown in the previous episodes. There was nothing really new, nothing really additional shown in the epilogues. So, the epilogues gave a feel-good vibe, but those were a bit disappointing at the same time.

Watching this drama is truly a charming, magical experience. The way the plot unfolded in the first 32 episodes is absolutely smooth, perfect! Episode 26 is worth a thousand times of remembrance & reminiscence. There is almost an epiphany moment for both the main leads in episode 26 which will shape the nature and tone of story ending --- whether it's to be happy or sad or bittersweet --- from then on.

The only problem is there are a number of events in the last four episodes, especially in episodes 33, 34 & 35 that can put a dampener on a viewer's heightened high expectations & emotions.
Yet, there were lot of epic moments --- of both sweet and serious tone in episode 35 & 36. The visual effects in episode 36 for the battle scene were amazing! And so were the visual effects for the tense atmosphere build-up for the battle preparation scenes in episode 31. The death scene( in episode 31) & resurrection or revival scene of the female lead ( in episode 33) is epic & the visual & special effects used to portray these scenes & the mood of those scenes are epic!

The voice actor who dubbed the voice of main male lead did an extremely amazing job! His voice fits the persona of moon supreme completely!
As for the cast, and regarding choice of the actor who plays the main male lead, personally, I would have preferred some other actor who looks more like a demon king or moon supreme lord to portray the role of the moon supreme lord --- someone who can bring out the cold, demonic , devilish aura & fierce vibe with not just breathtaking lethally handsome looks but also the right body build. Dylan wang has good looks, and all those fierce expressions, fierce eyes apt for the role of moon supreme, but the actor's body build didn't match that of the description of the body build of the demon king in the novel.
However, as I watched episode after episode of this drama, it made me realize how good the acting skills are of the actor who portrays the main male lead in this drama. Dylan Wang's acting skills are excellent in this drama. The main lead actor successfully displayed all subtle emotions on his face especially in episode 18 & in episode 36( when he confronts evil god, Taisui). Also started to notice how naturally fierce his eyes & expressions are --- so apt for the moon supreme role. And I also noticed how handsome Dylan Wang looked in certain costumes in certain episodes. The actor looked really convincing as the sexy, powerful, cold, devilish moon supreme in episode 19! I was taken aback by my own admiration.
There was just one particular black costume worn by moon supreme in the initial episodes & finale episode, the cloak part of which looked a bit funny & made the main male lead actor look thinner and more like a woman.
Had that particular costume & suitable matching hairstyle for that been carefully designed, Dylan Wang would've have looked more convincing as moon supreme and especially more devilishly handsome in every episode!

Yet, I felt the main male lead actor, Dylan Wang really looked quite hot when he made his appearance as evil Tai Sui with silvery white floating hair, emanating a cold, killing, devilish aura, wearing a plain, loose, black costume. I really loved that costume & that cold, devilish aura/vibe very much. I would've preferred to see the main lead actor sport that look throughout the drama.



Another thing that I love about this xianxia drama is its conscious, persistent focus on the theme of love. I really, really liked that kind of focus on the love theme --- how love makes everyone subconsciously change into the best or a better version of themselves. This is an important moral in the drama repeatedly reinforced through the final actions & choices made by both anti-heroes, and heroes, and heroines in this drama. This reminded me of the classic Beauty and Beast western fairy tale. But this drama is an oriental fantasy version of the Beauty & the Beast classic fairytale, and viewers will find it equally good or thousand times better in terms of overall plot.

In addition, the dialogues are all deep, poetic, lofty. A few examples:

i) "Everything in this world is fated except love"
---- goddess of fate, Siming's advice to Little Orchid.

ii) " She has left traces all over my heart"
---- Dongfang Qingcang's revelation to evil god, Tai Sui.

iii) "Let alone these illusions, even if he put you in thousands of identical orchids, I will find you in an instant."
----- Dongfang Qingcang's retort to Little Orchid.

iv) " Even if you run to the end of the Memory Loss river and the edge of the world, I can still find you. "
----- Dongfang Qingcang's veiled threat to Little Orchid, but which sounds more like an epic, intense, classy love line. ☺

I also enjoyed watching the following scenes very much:

1) the appointment on the bridge scene ( I absolutely loved the way the shot was taken to show how steadfast Dongfang manages to keep his promise. The style of that particular shot of him slowly climbing up the stairs really made the surprise event more delightful to watch! On top of that, Faye's ost played in the background as bgm gave an epic vibe to the whole scene. )

2) Dongfang exhausting his primordial spirit to sustain his beautiful dream in episode 32 (The visual effects & the whole sequence of shots had me mesmerized , spellbound)

3) the beautiful, fabricated dream of moon supreme Dongfang in episode 32 (The Other side/Across the Shore ost sung by Jing Long & Jing Di in the backdrop as bgm had me hypnotised).

4) a number of intense, steamy, domineering kiss scenes (episode 13), and a number of epic, soulful, glamorous kiss scenes in episodes 35 & episode 36.

So I shall be rewatching the whole drama especially episodes 1-32, ( and one particular glamorous kiss scene in episode 35 & and all kinds of epic emotional as well as epic battle scenes in episodes, 31, episode 36) when it releases on Netflix .


However, because I'm a fan of the original story, the novel, Cang Lan Jue, I would like to see someone make a beautiful xianxia drama which closely follows the original plot in the novel, Cang Lan Jue without any alterations to the story (and with a different cast this time). If that happens, I would find that drama more satisfactory to watch.
Come to think of it, it would have been more satisfactory to me if this drama had a mix of all the best parts of the original story, Cang Lan Jue, and all the best parts of this drama version of the story too.


Finally, this drama has an influence of diverse cultures --- everything from its West Asian & western style props, costumes, styling, music, special & visual effects right down to bgms.

The different kinds of background music (bgm) are truly worth listening to especially the ones played in the backdrop of epic scenes seem to have a combination of South Asian, West Asian, Western influence & worth listening to.
There should be a separate compilation of bgms of this drama on YouTube for bgm lovers because the bgms are so good!

And four of the osts:
1) The Other Side/Across the Shore by Jing Long, Jing Di
2) Faye's Farewell Love
3) Esther Yu's Amnesia
4) Looking for You by Liu Yu Ning.
are worth listening to. It gives an absolute pleasure!

In addition, I absolutely enjoyed reading & understanding the meaning of the lyrics of the ost, "Looking for You" by Liu Yu Ning.

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It's neither a good xianxia or a good romance drama.

(Disclaimer: I have read countless xianxia novels & I like the romance genre)

This is quite possibly the most overrated cdrama I have ever watched. Love Between Fairy and Devil is -unfortunately- neither a good xianxia story or an entertaining romantic comedy.

Xianxias typically have various elements that I like, for example cultivation, action scenes & a large number of bads either dying or getting some serious face slapping etc etc.
Here most of that is not really there. The character I hated the most is basically not dealt with (Heavenly Emperor? guy) at all. The strong ML is also getting constantly nerfed for really stupid reasons. The xianxia main plot is a watered down version of other stories i've seen/read before, It's really not very good, though there is very little of it overall. Had the romance been better on the account of the plot being so string thin, then I could have still enjoyed the drama..

..However the romance doesn't work very well for me at all. The whole thing makes no sense. Forbidden love is a popular topic in fiction, but it's really hard to justify it here for a number of reasons. We could talk about how Orchid is basically a baby in immortal realm terms, or how from her perspective ML is not only ancient, but also the manifestation of pure evil, also openly plotting to destroy her home, but ultimately I don't care all that much about these. The main problems are the following, the progress is super slow & jittery, there is very little excitement in their relationship and the show is lacking in comedy as well.
To add insult to injury we barely had any happy fluff content in the 36 episodes.
For example "Eternal Love - Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" has a similarly uninteresting Xianxia plot, but oh my gawd it's like 30 times funnier & there is so much more emotional impact overall. I could only describe the romance in this drama as lukewarm.

There are more genre independent script-writing problems. For starters the whole drama feels rather boring, because the storytelling is not only excruciatingly slow, but also the presentation is too juvenile for adults to really immerse themselves. Furthermore there are a very large number of insane plotholes & contradictions. As often is the case the writer is counting on her audience forgetting the minutiae of what has happened 2-4-6-10 episodes ago. Disrespecting the audience like this is not cool! There is also the ending, if I had to rate the final 2 episodes I think I would go with 2/10. It's not the worst ending I have ever seen, but it's in the bottom 10.

To talk about some positive things too, I think the drama had superb visuals in this genre. Also the acting is wonderful. It's annoying how much talent & effort went into creating a grand production from a script like this, it's a tremendous waste that's what it is.

As for Esther's baby voice? Well, this is what the production team wanted & she did a great job.

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When love is strong enough, it can even cause fate to change its course

This quote by PC Cast definitely encapsulates the story of Love Between Fairy and Devil.
Overall the drama is well pace, have great chemistry, and gave us what we always wanted — happy ending for our Little Orchid and Dongfang Qingcang. This also has the best performance for Esther Yu and Dylan Wang, both of which have been accused of Over the top (Esther), and Wooden acting (Dylan). *lol* Xiao Lanhua’s nickname for Dongfang Qingcang is so fitting. LMAO

|Great chemistry and believable romantic development|
Recent dramas usually use the shortcut of love at first sight to establish the plot which is very unrealistic. I liked how LBFAD started Little Orchid and Dongfang Qingcang as reluctant partners with their prejudices, to friends, and eventually to lovers. But from the start, you can already feel the palpable chemistry between the FL and ML because of Esther Yu’s and Dylan Wang’s chemistry. This palpable chemistry is also the reason why we are eager to follow the story of the OTP because we can’t wait for them to be together. It’s also nice that the drama also showed that both the ML and FL both don’t know Love at the beginning — the FL confused gratefulness with love, and the ML removed love from his heart. In most dramas, it’s usually the FL teaching the ML to love but in LBFAD I think Little Orchid and Dongfang Qungcang taught each other to love.

|Well paced plot and no unnecessary court dramas|
Most xianxia are bogged down by unnecessary drama between the deities and never ending reincarnation plot from heavenly realm to mortal realm and back again. What I liked about LBFAD is that they limited the drama to scenes that are actually relevant to the development of FL and ML character and story arc. Their advantage was that they also retained their bodies/memories so they’re not pushed around in the mortal realm because of the limits of mortal bodies. Also we must give the team props for limiting themselves to 36 episodes, because D*ang those other xianxia’s have 40-60 episodes and they can’t even retain our interests in all the episodes.

|Great side characters that actually make the OTP shine|
Other Xianxia’s have so many top billed actors/actresses that they have so many “main characters” that you tend to loose track of who is who and what is happening. LBFAD, even though it’s a Xianxia, knew who the star of the drama is — Little Orchid and Dongfang Qingcang — so they gave just the right amount of characterization to characters that actually affect the story of the 2. I also liked that they gave an arc for Jieli and Shangque but it’s not so complicated that it takes time away from the OTP. I’m a bit torn if I like the arc for Rong Hao and Chidi woman but I guess it is still relevant to make the story move forward.

|DISTINCT key locations unique to LBFAD, beautiful cinematography, costume, and production design|
I only saw an episode of the LBFAD animation, and I can say that the drama did a great job in recreating the world of Heavenly Realm, Cangyan Sea, and Yunmeng Lake. Most xianxia’s maximize the use of Hengdian studio sets so they usually have similar looks/locations. For LBFAD, I like that they gave us the unique Artbiter Hall, they have special “court” and look for the heavenly realm, and the Moon Tribe realm also looks unique. The costumes are lovely and the accessories of the heavenly realm make them more ethereal and the moon tribe more exotic. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s on iQiyi, but I love the color palette they used which is mostly iridescent pastels in the heavenly realm and rich hues in Cangyan sea.

In the end, I think LBFAD is a one of the best xianxia of recent years in terms of chemistry, plot, visuals, and OST. Will I rewatch it as much a my other top dramas (7x for The Eternal Love 1/2/3 or 3x for Love Better Than Immortality) maybe but maybe not as much.

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This drama has superb story line for this genre.
It got me exccited and had subscribed for the first time in iqiyi to watch it.
I had never review any drama i watched before so
I want to recommend it to everyone, you will enjoy and will not get bored on LBFAD. Overall I still rate it as 10/10. I love the Esther and Dylan on how they portrayed their characters.
I have followed and watched their drama but I have never felt this way, I can't explain my emotions and waited every day for the release of the next episodes.
Hands down to all the casts, directors and all the people behind LBFAD.
The OST are very heartwarming and sound so good.
Still hoping that there will be an episode to showcase more their happy ending.

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What mash up

I had lot of expectation but its enjoyable not some thing extraordinary
story of innocent and kind girl falling in love with a KIng/ZGod?powerful man is old now we have seen in many dramas before.
A female power is hiddent damage is also old nothing new there
ok first let me tell u what I liked here Acting and personality of two main leads they carried the whole drama on their shoulder through out . Impressed with both. Costumes and set were good .
problem was narrative it goes well but midway didnt know what was happening
How come ny one can come and go in Moon kingdom Jiali comes and go to Haishi and no one cares
Some of the girls are so thin that i was really worried if they can fight

Cheng hang acting was better when he is in mortal realm, his costume as God of war looks like plastic tubes
I didnt understand why Chidi was revived when she dies within two episodes of her revival and who was God of war after she was revived
So many things were left answer I m giving it 8 just for Dylan and Esther . Good point it was only 36 episodes and after 25 I have been watching it at a faster speed

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Really took me by surprise.

In the first couple episodes I was kinda eh about this drama. It seemed to just be one of those easy going types with not too much going on. But wow this drama surprised me. It’s the first time I’ve seen the actress and she’s perfect for the role as well as her real voice. I really was not expecting myself to enjoy it as much as I did. Overall new dramas this year have been eh a bit of a disappointment to me. But this one def turned it around.

Excellent character dev as well. I remember Dylan Wang in miss the dragon. You can def see his growth in this and how well he is able to act. I think he got roasted pretty bad for miss the dragon too. Just great chemistry

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This drama revived my emotional root.

Thank you Drama Deities for this Masterpiece!

Have been watching drama and anime since the 90s and have never left a review, but I want to put a lot of love out in the world for this amazing show.

Is it absolutely perfect? Nothing is,
(not even Goblin) but hot damn, did the stars still align for this one!

Insane chemistry between the leads, solid and compelling writing (oh, how we’ve missed you), gorgeous cinematography and a beautiful performance by Dylan Wang that can only be described as inspired by the muses.

Have never finished any of Dylan’s dramas before and Holy Heck his portrayal of Dongfang Qincang has got me wondering where he was keeping all of THAT. His “micro-expressions” (ugh, buzzword, but had to) and body language are masterful and nearly every shot of him is a work of art. I kept on pausing and rewinding just to marvel at his beauty. It’s hard to play emotionless characters without coming off as wooden, and Didi succeeds here where so many have failed.

It begs to be said that DFQC is an amazing character. Smart, powerful, straightforward and unshakeable in everything he puts his mind and heart to, he’s a demon who gets things done. He’s so expertly layered that we quickly find there’s more to him than an evil guy who just wants to kill everyone for no particular reason. And when he falls in love? Good God. Tell me when you’ve watched THAT SCENE.

Have never heard of Esther Yu before this, and like many others I was bothered by her voice and cutesy acting in the first episode, but thankfully I was tided over by Changheng long enough for her to grow on me.

Again, cute and naive characters like Orchid are hard to play or get right in writing, but Esther and the drama somehow nail it (after ep 1 for me, heh). She’s also got the layers going on—not just a dumb, crybaby female MC but a positive girl with a big heart that has the capacity to love everyone and treat others with kindness. Orchid in love is a force to behold, so unlike most female MCs who run away at the first hint of a challenge. I think she revived many jaded viewers’ emotional roots when she displayed an internal tenacity and steadfastness that a lot of female MCs sorely lack. Please tell me what you think when you get to THAT PART. The chills.

And don’t get me started on the kiss scenes. So sweet and natural, never lusty (nothing wrong with lusty, but well executed “pure love” kisses are hard to come across in dramaland). And the way DFQC looks at her! I know it’s called acting, but calling all Dylan Wang experts: is he like that in all his other dramas and BTS?

The story itself is simple but effective. I usually wait for dramas to end so I can binge but I couldn’t do it with this one. I just needed to see all the episodes that were out there, and while I was waiting for the new ones I rewatched from the start. I couldn’t even watch other dramas to pass the time. It just keeps getting better.

The soundtrack further elevates the drama
with some epic orchestral BGM pieces and surprising rock moments that breathe fresh life into the tried and true ballad-paloozas.

Costumes were fantastic, especially everything the Moon Supreme (lol does his title remind you of pizza) wears. I can see why the headgear and armour were criticised, but you can also see where the designers were going with it, and eventually…Dylan pulls it off, lol. Sorry, Shuiyuntian gods. Moon tribe threads ftw.

Some well-executed, refreshing special effects to be enjoyed here. I won’t spoil the big ones for you but I especially enjoyed the way they teleport, and the Hellfire…!

And as with any xianxia, there will always be parts that look artificial, some awkward wire work and inescapable tropes, but none of these take away from what an amazing drama LBFAD is.

Thank you to the LBFAD team for giving us this beautiful gem!

[Still reading? Why hello, fellow fan, thank you for your time.]

HERE BE MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!


*****

*****


There are some things that I think could be better, but didn’t want to mention lest they spoil it for others:

After DFQC’s epic agony at losing Orchid, I think she could have cried and shouted more when she lost him…? Why couldn’t she follow him while he was drifting away? And is it just me or would you be shouting “I love you” repeatedly when your loved one is dissipating before your eyes? (see: Goblin)

I also couldn’t get past her Christmas tinsel Goddess scarf thing. It bounced obnoxiously while she walked.

Was also confused by IQIYI translation of Orchid’s conversation with Xunfeng about whether or not DFQC will come back. The subtitles kinda say flat out “no” (but we know he does) so I asked a native speaker to translate. Turns out Orchid doesn’t say “no”, she says “it’s hard” but that there are “miracles”. So in short, it was really a yes, she believes he’ll be back.

Finally…I wish we could have had a slightly longer ending! A more magnificent comeback for the Moon Supreme (given how he brought Orchid back) and a bit more reunion time / happy montage for our leads.

Still, I’m grateful for the happy ending and that kiss, which is infinitely better than, “Qian Qian, come here.” (See: Eternal Love)

Looking forward to seeing Dylan and Esther work together again!

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DongFang is addictive

started out of boredom ended up falling in love with it
How can I say, it was magical from the very begining
How it captured me suddently didn't give me time to escape >_< and I'm glad I found this gem
DongFang Qincang has set my standards in male lead on Wuxia genre so high in every aspect from his character to his perfect and handsome visual in each frame that now I'm afraid not being able to find gourgeous lead's anymore

If I have to complain about something is the female lead's voice that pissed me off each time she talked or acted all that unecessary cute but dont' know when at some point it didn't irritate me anymore, just got used and found her cute later O_O

Best part of this series is the male lead DongFang each of scene where he is in I watched it minimun 5x times, his visual is stunning and always that series face is damn handsome wow and when he started to smile wooahh the joy

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Not your typical XianXia. Incredible romance and storytelling. A masterpiece.

There are seriously very few shows that I can't wait for Netflix to finish obtaining before watching the rest of it. This show, though, was one of them. After seeing the first few episodes, I ended up having to subscribe to another live stream service because it was going to take weeks for Netflix to finish uploading it! Yes, it was that good. Just a fair warning that this is going to be a thesis of a review as I want to gush the hell outta this series because, [insert a Sean Bean meme] one does not simply watch Love Between Devil and Fairy and think they can walk out with just a few "oh, jolly good show, chaps" as a sentiment. For those who haven't seen it and don't want spoilers, all I'm going to say is do yourself a favour and GO FORKING WATCH IT! WATCH IT NOW! WATCH THE HELL OUT OF IT!! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!?!

Beyond this point, there be spoilers...

~~~

First up, there are some stereotypes and common XianXia tropes that are used. Yes, you get the ingenue female protag. Yes, you get a crush on a seemingly too-out-of-her-league male char. Yes, you get some extended love triangles where the competitor for the higher-than-thou male char is the female protag's antagonist and creates angst for her. Yes, you get an overly powerful male protag and yes, you get a sacrifice, from the female protag, who needs to choose between love or duty. But it's not what you think!

The female protag, Xiao Lan Hua (Orchid), is not your stereotypical female ingenue protag. The very first thing I noticed about her was that she was strong. She was strong in knowing what she wanted and unbending in going for it. She knows her power limitations but, to her, it's something that can be remedied with some hard work on her part and she is willing to put in the yards towards it. Although she is bullied she never lets it affect her but instead works around the bullies and just avoids them as much as she can. She doesn't even state, in the narration, that she is bullied at all but thinks the other fairies are her nice friends not because she's too naive to know what they are but because she harbours no ill will towards them. I really respected her for that as it shows maturity and strength. Whenever they call her by other flower names, she is not afraid to correct them. It doesn't change their recall of her name but, to her, what was important was that she stood up for herself and her name. That, again, is true wisdom and strength. Then, and here's what cements her "strong female char" status in my eyes, when the contest to serve in Lord Chang Heng's palace is announced she declares to the other competitors that they should remember her name because they'll be hearing it alot when she wins. The first episode when she did all that really hooked me from the get-go because even though she sported the stereotypically annoying chipmunk voice of XianXia chicks, she wasn't going to be another willowy XianXia chick swooning at someone she can't get only to be continuously rescued by someone she was scripted to fall in love with later. There was some chutzpah to her that was rare in XianXia Cdramas.

I'm not sure why the directors think Xiao Lan Hua is a meek and cowardly girl. To me, her announcement that she will be the winner was convincing evidence that she was anything but a meek and cowardly girl. Because to make that announcement, she had to believe that she was worthy; whether she was able to doesn't matter. What mattered was she believed she was worthy of a chance, a chance at being in close vicinity with the man she loves, a chance even of being considered by him. That is something you don't find in other ingenue Xianxia female protags, and that is something you don't associate with someone who is cowardly. They say courage is when you are afraid but do it anyway. Sure, Xiao Lan Hua is scared of many things, but that doesn't stop her from pursuing what she wants, and believing that one is worthy, to be able to stand in one's own glory despite so much societal rejection by her peers... that does not smack of cowardly one bit. Moreover, her actions after this declaration, as well as her valiant deeds in the examination, have only solidified her strong and courageous image. She has strong principles and values life and is not afraid to do what she deems necessary.

Other things I disagreed with was how Shang Que was received. He is perceived as a dumbass. Fans have commented that where Dongfang Qing Cang was missing a heart, Shang Que was missing a brain. However, if they actually watched the show in the beginning DFQC relied wholly on SQ's intel and knowledge of everything from history, medical healing procedures, politics, everything. SQ's knowledge on topics are wide and he has the pulse on everything that would affect his liege. He would be considered the ultimate spymaster. The FBI and CIA would kill for someone as knowledgeable as him in a similar reality. Certainly DFQC was not ignorant of SQ's intellectual worth and SQ was pretty much his vizier throughout his reign. It's quite short-sighted to think he is without intellect just because he is also very physically strong. It's worthwhile to note that he is not human. He is a dragon and just because he chooses to think the best of people, the opposite of Jie Li's mindset, doesn't mean he's a pushover or a dumbarse for having convictions. I bring this up because I think the directors also commented on how he's not considered a smart char, which the fans might've gone along with. This particular fan disagrees and think they did a fantastic job, more than they realised.

There were other things that defied the XianXia romance troupe that made me love this series. How Dan Yin shows reason and can say that although she's grateful for XLH saving her life, she still dislikes her because XLH is competition for HC's attention. I found this a real insight into sisterhood in that yes, harem-like malicious viciousness has been commonly portrayed by female chars in Cdramas despite the protag saving the antagonist or making some sacrifices for the latter, but LBDF defies this trope by reaching a realistic middle ground. It is annoying to see portrayals of male love rivals giving up their competition for friendship while females don't get this kind of closure. It is also very unrealistic. Surely, in real life, rival women do let things go and just decide that friendship can exist between the "sisters". If honour can exist among men, are we really to believe that it can't exist among women, the main maker of sacrifices in life? Very sadly unrealistic belief, tbh. Anyway, back to Dan Yin. Her char is great. Like with a capital G. She is someone who had ambitions and goals before she fell in love with HC and after going through a trial with him remembers her past dreams and decides to pursue that. She grows out of loving him and decides being friends is the best. Honestly, she is an underrated char and I very much hesitate to say she is an antagonist. In fact, this XianXia is great because there are no real antagonists aside from the evil god, Tai Sui, who can be interpreted as more of the darkness within anyone's soul. I hope to see more of her type of char in Cdramas and XianXias. It is refreshing to have women portrayed not as losers for never having won the love of the man they like because, really, having or losing the love of a man is really like any other life event.

Hua Cheng (update: I mean Chang Heng. Jeezus, kept getting Zhang Ling He's char's name mixed up before finding out he IS going to be casted as Hua Cheng in Eternal Faith!!!)... now... this char too is unique. Zhang Ling He's acting was very good as I was able to pick up early on that he reciprocated XLH's affections and it was a pleasant surprise to have such reciprocation when we are so normalised to the female protag never receiving the love back in these sorts of stories. He was very unique in that it's nice to see the male paramour char acknowledge the female protag's good qualities. It shows a good judge of character (no pun intended) that is rarely portrayed by characters like him. I do feel sorry for HC as his sacrifices were very underplayed and overlooked. He suffered a lot for XLH and I don't think he was really given a fair chance to win her affections. And the misunderstanding about him striking her off his palace duties were never remedied so I felt he was given the short end of the straw in the romance arc. However, I guess ultimately his character arc was about finding his own independence to defy the expectations foisted upon him by an insecure and bully of older brother, not about having his love realised.

Another thing that endeared this series to me was the fact that the love btwn XLH and DFCQ was never insta, as is often portrayed by XX. There was a lot of bonding work that was done that found both chars inadvertently gravitating towards each other that made it very organic and a natural progression. It was a healthy protrayal of love that is rarely encountered in shows and took its time to grow with the characters. The love btwn Jie Li and SQ also felt natural because of the polarity of their mindset despite stemming from similar beginnings. They balance each other and also make up for each other's weaknesses.

Sibling love was also explored between DFQC and his brother, Xun Feng. It's quite often that you see sibling rivalry portrayed in a way that expects viewers to accept that "they compete because they just do, because one is jealous of the other, because one gets more attention than the other, blah blah blah". It's just too lazy and easy to fall back on the lack of paternal attention (more so than maternal attention) as the catalyst to sibling rivalry. It locks the antagonistic sibling into this endless, mindless drone of pettiness and jealousy that can't ever be resolved until the other is disposed of. Here, however, this wasn't the catalyst. It's not shown what XF thinks of their father's affections towards the firstborn, DFQC. There's never a sense that XF was jealous of the time the former Supreme Moon Lord had spent with the older brother. What XF was pissed off about, however, was that his brother cut short his own time with their father and in a very final way. This, I found, was a more mature form of rationale for sibling rivalry because it's not self-absorbed. XF is young and his incompetence as a ruler is alluded to a lot but it was refreshingly nice to not have him be immature. Like Dan Yin, he was mature enough to be reasoned with. He was mature enough to set his old feelings aside and be taught, even by an enemy (ie XLH), because he was ultimately very much motivated to love his brother, as, in truth, he really does love DFQC, and he really does love his people as well.

Another love that was explored was storge love and boy, did it ever. DFQC's patricide pretty much framed the series and defined his character and life in the beginning. However, we find out that it's not as simple as it seems. The writing around why the former Supreme Moon Lord behaved the way he did was nothing short of spectacular. Really, at the end, one can't decide which way is up or which way down. When DFQC is faced with imminent invasion from the celestial fairy clan the enormity and reality of his father's past decisions really bear down on the viewer and leaves us at a lost to decide what should've, could've, or would've been the right decision. As DFQC himself discovers, "Father, [when the enemy was gaining] and you had to remove my emotions, did you feel the same [despair] too?" As a viewer, I couldn't really fault the past Moon Lord's decision and neither could I judge DFQC's actions towards XLH at that point too. It felt like a game of Go where you were locked into the only logical decision to make that would incur incredible, and irrecoverable, costs. The whole patricide angle melts away and reveals this layer to DFQC, the former Supreme Moon Lord and XF's character and r/ships with each other. It is just nuanced work that ate through a whole bunch of tissues.

Last, but not least, is the whole catalyst to the showdown between the fairy and moon clan—the love Rong Hao bears for his master, Lady Chi Di, the former goddess of war. Such a love between teacher and student is strictly forbidden and frowned upon in the WuXia and XianXia cultures, which reflects Asian cultures. In LBFD, this taboo love is portrayed as something that becomes a destructive and evil obsession by Rong Hao that consumes him and the world around him. The most telling line from RH was "why is it that not even destroying heaven and earth can fulfill such a small and simple wish?" And what was that small and simple wish? Knowing that he can't realise his love for his master, all he wants is for her to live, for him to be able to stay in her life and for them to be teacher and student, master and disciple, for eternity. The shortcomings of forbidding such a love are laid bare when it is discovered that she too had unseemly feelings for him, but whereas his love was construed as selfish and self-centred, resulting in centuries of trauma and suffering on Lady Chi Di without her having consented to any of it, her love was considered pure. But was it? In a spectacular twist, we find that she had also inflicted her own selfish desires on Rong Hao, bringing him back from the dead without his consent as well. The question to us then is whether Rong Hao was the real instigator behind everything or whether he was merely the byproduct of Lady Chi Di's unseemly act. Honestly, I don't think Rong Hao cares. In her revelation to him, he finds a soulmate who was just as willing to move heaven and earth, and bring order to its knees, as he was. In this way, Rong Hao's "twisted" love was answered and reciprocated. There had always been a sense in him and to himself that he was irredeemable and so very unworthy of the gift of deityhood she had given him, but in discovering her actions, he realises she was the same as him—just as human and earthly, just as messed up and broken inside, just as irredeemably unworthy of a godhood he was willing to bargain away so that he could have her by her side as she had kept him by hers. It was a tangled, messy love arc but so sensitively written that, by the end, I really couldn't hate on Rong Hao. I mean... aside from the genocide of XLH's clan...

Finally, the ending... I'm not going to mince words—it was rushed. By the end of it, I remembered thinking, "please, just give me a happy ending. Even if it's something stupid and implausibly insulting like what happened in My Only Love Song." I also remembered thinking, "be careful what you wish for", because, lo and behold, something implausible was exactly what happened at the end. At first, I felt cheated of their wedding and their marriage however, when I wound the show back I realised that they had, in fact, been "married". When goddess Xi Yun and Hua Cheng discussed their marriage, she explains that her powers need to be activated and it was believed that it could only be activated by their marriage. However, when she gives DFQC another redemptive kiss (to mirror the first he received in the celestial prison at the beginning) her powers were activated, which symbolises, to me anyway, that she was married and to him. At first, it felt a tad deus ex machina but really, it makes sense. The whole rationale for the ancient marriage contract between Hua Cheng's and Xi Yun's tribes was to protect the three realms. In being soul-married to DFQC instead, this was the best way to ensure the protection of the three realms hence why their match resulted in the needed goddess power activation. What I did find rushed was the very very very ending... when DFQC returns... no, not even that, beyond that... when he just says, "honey, I'm home!" and then the metaphoric curtain falls to The End. WTF. I mean, ok, they were "married" but it felt a bit stingy to cheat the viewers out of the visual affirmation but even so, if we were to accept that, it was definitely stingy to cheat the viewers out of the happily ever after that these two worked so damn hard for. I suspect the production crew knew fans would feel this way and created the final special episodes, but it was cuts of former episodes and filled with so many images from DFQC's dream illusion phase that it felt... weird.

HOWEVER

No stars whatsoever were deducted for this. The whole show was replete with so many amazing subversions of the XianXia tropes that it was well worth investing in all the 36 episodes. I've missed out on some other stuff, like the great sisterly love development Jie Li and Dan Yin and how the Moon tribe finally comes together with the fairy tribe for the common good, led by Xun Feng, and the wonderful Si Ming character. Ok, no, I'll write a few stuff about her because she is truly awesome. Si Ming is fantastic. The wild child of the celestial fairy folks who is ironically in charge of order, who follows her heart even when she believes everything is fated and free will doesn't really exist and, who is an avid drinker! She lights up each frame she's in, which is woefully few. I would've loved a further exposition into her backstory and the production crew could've expanded the series for a few more episodes at least on her, imho. Anyhoo...

Honest, by the end, no one is left behind. Everyone has a growth. There were no cliche NPCs at all which, for me, shows great writing because there was no waste, à la Chekov's gun principle.

Really disappointed it was only 36 episodes but have enjoyed each and every one of them. Recommendation is definitely to watch it if you like character driven shows and layered stories. LBFD was a feast.

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Visually stunning

A wonderful bit of escapism, with some really touching moments, humour and action (of a martial arts/supernatural kind).
The acting was fine and the cast beautiful, with lovely sets and costumes.
The story is entertaining, but it did drag in several places for me. If it hadn't gone off on unnecessary tangents at times (for example some of the focussing on Jie Li, which lent nothing to the story) and stretching out of scenes, the pace would have been improved. I felt the end stories were wrapped up in a somewhat rushed manner, when compared to aspects of the rest of the story.
The opening episode grabbed me and the final episodes were quite gripping (and sad in some cases), but my attention drifted quite often in between.
Dylan Wang was a delight, as were the majority of the cast. However, as is too often the case, the childish way in which Orchid spoke, drove me nuts. It is not necessary to speak like a kid to convey sweetness or naivety.
I would have liked to see a bit more of the dragon in his true form too.
Some of the more modern guitar music I didn't feel was appropriate either and that distracted me.
Overall a decent watch, and if I watched again, certain bits I'd definitely FF.

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