Qing Jun Ci Jiao (2022)

Epic love story that never really was…

As I watched the story of “Thousand Years for You” unfold, I was looking forward to an epic love story that broke barriers and transcended time. Sadly, the show failed to deliver on the romance, and the ending left me feeling empty in that aspect.

It is not as though the show lost its focus midway. From beginning to end, the story was about the love journey initially between a powerful saintess, Yun Xi, from the spirit clan and a valiant mortal general Lu Yan. Then later between Yun Xi’s doppelgänger, Deng Deng and Lu Yan, who waited 3000 years for Yun Xi.

Unfortunately, the pairing of Li Qin as Yun Xi/Deng Deng and Ren Jia Lun as Lu Yan fell flat for me. No matter how good they looked together, I just could not get the feels from them, and the chemistry was seriously lacking. They were definitely a visual treat, but I enjoyed the show more by seeing them as mystery-solving partners instead of a couple.

For me, the show would have fared better if they had removed the romance aspect and focused on the mystery and adventures. A xianxia set in the Republican era was interesting enough, and the different storylines were refreshing. It was entertaining to watch our sleuthing duo and their sidekicks battle the evil elements of the spirit clan. Most of the other characters, especially the second couple, helped bring this drama to life; they were all likable individuals in their own right.

The show was a pretty well-balanced emotional roller coaster of emotions, switching between humor, suspense, and melodrama. That said, the script did need to be polished, and there were plot holes and dialogue that should have been tighter.

I loved the details put into the costumes. One could tell that a lot of thought was put into the styles of the characters. Deng Deng often wore masculine clothing, but there were touches of femininity. The outfits for Lu Yan were chic and perfectly tailored. They highlighted Ren Jia Lun’s good looks so well. I also appreciate the color palettes that also matched the characters perfectly.

The best part for me was the excellent OST, and the songs were mainly the ingredient that got me tearing up. The CGI was also well-done, and the fight scenes were well-executed, except for some scenes that ended up hilarious instead.

Acting-wise, I was impressed by Li Qin, who delivered the emotional scenes perfectly and effortlessly transitioned between the ethereal, refined Yun Xi and the tomboyish, brash Deng Deng. There was criticism of her portrayal of Deng Deng because some thought she over-acted, but I thought she did fine.

Ren Jia Lun did what he did best, playing a calm, cold, emotionless person who gradually warmed up to the female lead. However, I felt RJL lacked his usual intensity compared to his other dramas. It could be due to how he interpreted his character, who was supposed to become indifferent during those 3000 years, trying to bring back Yun Xi by transferring energy into his last remnant of her. Regardless, without his usual magnetic emoting, the romance failed to come alive for me.

It also did not help that RJL used his voice this time, and one can tell he lacked experience with voice dubbing. It often sounded like he was reciting lines and came across as dull. On the other hand, Li Qin also used her voice but was better in delivery; however, her dubbing suffered from the volume being too loud, making her sound annoying sometimes.

Other than the romance, I also found the villains lackluster. I like Leon Lai and his acting, but as Zhu Rong, the main antagonist for most of the show, I was not entirely convinced by his motivations and actions, especially towards the end. Plus, the last-minute addition of another villain just felt too rushed. Ultimately, the final showdown was somewhat anti-climatic.

Overall, even though I did not get the fantastic love story I expected from a RJL drama, it was still a show worth watching. It was fun watching Lu Yan and Deng Deng play detective to uncover who was threatening the spirit clan and humanity.


Full OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9iDlX-GIwI
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qV032sg5Faeju8KTDQbeJ?si=3a9110beb0c34f61

1. 吾 (I) - 任嘉伦 (Allen Ren) 00:00
2. 有时无期 (Indefinite At Times) - 张碧晨 (Zhang Bichen) 04:40
3. 光年爱情 (Light Year Love) - 王靖雯 (Wang Jingwen) 07:54
4. 你是我唯一 (You Are My Only One) - 陆虎 (Lu Hu) 11:38

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Interesting general plot but very disappointing leads chemistry

Completed: 10/6/2022 - 7.75

“Thousand Years for You” is one of my more anticipated dramas in 2022 because I am a fan of Allen Ren and Li Qin. Even though the plot seems like a typical xianxia drama, what’s special is we have a strong FL that is not the typical naive, little girl. Doesn’t it sound cool to have a FL that’s the leader of a gang? Unfortunately, the drama disappoints me mainly due to the lack of chemistry between the leads. I am not sure why this happens. Perhaps I am getting old and cynical?

I didn’t feel their chemistry until the last 1.5 episodes of the drama. The leads have many scenes together, both when they are bickering and fighting, and when they’re in love as a couple. I am usually a sucker for enemies-to-lovers trope, but this is not working for me. I’ve seen Allen Ren in many of his dramas where he plays a similar role - cool, calm and collected. There are a lot of similarities in his role as Lu Yan here and his role as General Zhou Sheng Chen in “One and Only”. However, in “One and Only”, I can feel his emotions through his eyes. I could tell when he’s in love with Bai Lu’s character and when he’s deeply torn and tortured. But not in “Thousand Years for You” when he’s looking at Li Qin. I also feel that the writing of his character does not give him much to work with. This is deeply disappointing as a fan of his and I have to admit this is not his best work.

On the other hand, I am not sure if this is the right role for Li Qin either. I like her more mature roles in “The Song of Glory” and “The Wolf”. I remember also not liking her as the outgoing, bubbly character in “Fights Break Sphere”. Because the role of Deng Deng is so unconventional and interesting, Li Qin seems to be trying too hard and overacting. I like Deng Deng a lot more in later episodes when the comedy dies down, and the adventure and fantasy plots start to take center stage.

I think another reason why I have issues with the acting and chemistry is because the actors are using their own voice. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for actors using their voices. But Allen Ren is still a newbie in this respect and his line delivery seems monotone, especially when he’s frustrated and angry. Though Allen Ren has improved, the quality of his acting voice adds to the already questionable acting and the writing of his character. I am still glad to hear his real voice and he can only get better moving forward. With Li Qin, her overreacting can be heard clearly in the initial episodes. She definitely is not monotone and actually is quite pitchy early on, and a little too animated.

I do find myself liking the plot and the fantasy adventure. The pacing is pretty good overall, only a little slow for me in the middle for a few episodes. But once the plot moves on to the actual fighting against the villains, the pace is good. I do think the ending is a little rushed. I would not say the ending is predictable, but it’s not surprising given the background history and love story of the leads. I do think the drama could explain a little more about the ending instead of a few quick seconds of the glasses (I had to read the comment section to figure this out).

The production quality is OK. It does not seem like a big budget production. The CGI is not good, which is an issue for a fantasy drama. Although the main leads are using their real voice, there’s no live recording and everything was dubbed during post production. I think that adds to my dislike of the drama. On another note, I like all the songs in the OST. My favorite song is 《有时无期》by 张碧晨（Diamond）

On a more positive note, I am glad that Deng Deng (FL) is strong, smart and independent throughout the drama. She did not turn dumb or make questionable decisions when she’s in love. But since she’s human without powers, we do need ML to come in and help her out every so often. Allen Ren looks super handsome in all his suits as the all-powerful 3000-year old General. There are some fun side characters and no one is too annoying to me. FL’s dad is hitting the borderline annoying mark, but not too bad. Many don’t like 2ML but I am OK with him being the third wheel. I think I feel a little more love between 2ML and 2FL after they reunited. I am glad there are no evil and jealous secondary characters that are very common in xianxia dramas.

It seems like I hate this drama with all my critiques. I actually had a somewhat enjoyable time and liked the overall plot. I am just mainly disappointed. I would only recommend this drama if you are a big fan of the leads or are interested in a Republican fantasy-adventure drama with a xianxia feel to it.


Other Random Observations:
1. FL grew old with white hair but the other parts of her seem to stay young for a lot longer.
2. The initial comedy and over-the-topness could drive viewers away.
3. The kidnapping arc seems to be a drama of its own without having anything to do with the main story.

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Many interesting things in this alternate world drama

Min guo seems heavily leaning towards Chinese fantasy wuxia or related style, these years, with the "Candle in the Tomb" series, and "Thousand of Years for You" + "Lost in Kunlun mountains". The ones that did not rely on fantasy were either ok for me despite being in no way historical ("City of Streamer": I loved the tango and arrow shooting scenes, among other ones like the Nanjing room scene) or huge disappointment ("Love in Flames of War", where I ended up positively hating the female protagonist embodied by Chen Duling's excruciatingly cold act. The only thing I saved from that one were the references to classic Tang poetry which I brushed up on, along the way in the first part, and re reading Tagore's beautiful auto translations of his Stray Birds that so influenced the Chinese intellectuals of that time period.)

I am still watching “Thousand of Years for You”, but same way as I also watch “A Romance of the Little Forest”: both have fine actors that are not used to their best potential. AROLF is the one that grates more on my nerves and the one I don't find much to reflect on. I'm Ok with Allen's voice and cool stance as a general not completely sure of how to fit in 3000 years later and how to recover his lost lover-who-acts-weird : DengDeng (Li Qin) was bizarrely thick-headed, stubborn and bossy.

I also love Ren Jialun's voice in the theme song (and many other songs unrelated to this drama, , such as his first concept music album " Thirty-two Li" (三十二·立 or 32 Stand, in reference to his birthday) of April 11, 2021 - yes he's 33 now, happily married with a growing family that he takes good care of: I like that sort of persons). For the curious minded and Hanyu students there is an interesting video called “Learn Chinese with Allen Ren (任嘉伦 Ren Jialun)” on the EverydayChinese YouTube channel, posted in May this year by teacher … Deng Deng! (using recorded interview snippets that date back to 2017).

(Spoilers ahead for those who have not reached episode 26 of 36, but if you can bear them, my findings may add some interest to watching the drama for you)

The republican era style has nothing to do with realism: the story is set in an alternate world of "nine continents" which were invaded 3000 years earlier by a spirit tribe fleeing desolation in their home world and set on conquering a new one, like space travelers who would conquer new lands on a faraway planet. After long battles between humans and spirit clansmen, a general who was the champion of the humans accepted the peace offerings of the spirit clan's Saintess. They became lovers and she sacrificed her inner energy core to save his life. But her spirit was saved in a golden crow feather, and the general, having new magic powers, rested inside a mural painted in a sealed tomb, for 3000 years, waiting until she would totally recover in transmigration; DengDeng's intrusion in the tomb, Lara Croft-style, woke him up.

The “marriage” of DengDeng with her rooster had me wondering when we would watch the poor hungry denizens of her Qingquan Stronghold partake in a symbolic cannibal feast of gongbao ji ding (宫保鸡丁 – literally 'The Palace Guardian's Diced Chicken' : Look up the easy recipe to make the dish yourself, or purchase a portion at your local take-out, if you are not a vegetarian Buddhist who cringes at the idea of taking a life to sustain your own). Of course it served as a reason to have Master Lu be nicknamed funnily ‘concubine Lu”. In episode 17, Lu Yan mock seriously criticized DengDeng for not having respected his “honor and chastity” when she brought him to the stronghold as “heroic husband”. But DengDeng insisted to use those jokes to introduce Lu Yan in strange places, after the clownish gender swap method by which he was "acquired. (gender swaps seems to be trending in c-dramas since 2021 "Eternal Love III" with Xing Zhaolin and Liang Jie and other ones, including the literal "The Day of Becoming You" with Liang Jie and Steven Zhang). Btw DengDeng later told Lu Yan she had eaten the golden crow when she was sick in childhood and this had healed her : but this looked like a tall tale devised by her father, as we still later found out when the real origins of DengDeng were revealed.

The journey from fort to city and visits to Mysterious Market and the lingering hostility towards pointy-ear alien spirit people "monsters" evidently mirrored the deplorable discriminations that are found in many human societies : caste system, scorn of immigrants or bumpkins or "other races" or lesser able bodied people, fear of witches. Lu Yan’s heartbreak and his shedding a tear in episode 14 at his failure to convince DengDeng that she was his true love, the transmigrated Saintess Yunxi from spirit tribe, was quite moving -the prior story of Lu Yan and Yun Xi was told in episodes 12-13.

Next the angelic transformation was very dreamy and heroic to look at, but the ensuing episodes left me perplexed that DengDeng could so easily become prey to the demonic antagonist Zhu Rong (Leon Lai) when almost omnipotent general Lu Yan with magic powers was watching over her. Yes I know, the antagonist was siphoning their magic qi, but still, Lu Yan did win battles against Zhu Rong in the past, and valiant DengDeng seemed undeterred and quite recovered from her magic core depletion, after a short rest while traveling to "ancient Shu". After being separated from the general who seemed strangely trusting in the loyalty of his treacherous former second in command who's become immortal, she was undeterred by the prospect of exploring yet another Tomb-like underground palace with a small tinder (for which I found an interesting recipe * based on a mix of white phosphorus, pine resin and sulphur which when put inside a bamboo tube can indeed ignite when blown upon). What Zhu Rong was doing meanwhile is not clear: waiting to be beaten again?

The supporting cast has indeed some annoying characters and filler feeling side plots. But Deng Deng’s trusted Peng Dahai (Chang Long) who becomes a pretty girl when he drinks alcohol, is often quite funny.

The appearance of the kun-peng magic whale in the sky had me number the instances I've noticed it in recent dramas since ‘Time Flies and You are Here” (end of episode 21). At least three times now until here in the beginning of episode 12. The reason for this recurrent motif had me puzzled. Digging further, I found that it ties in with ZhuangZi stories and it is a complicated symbol of the aspiration to go beyond the ordinary, or even for absolute freedom, from what I found in a Chinese Journal of Social Sciences which examined the myth of the kun giant fish from the northern deeps that shapeshifts into an enormous peng bird the wingspan of which covers the sky! "Many Zhuangzi scholars have debated the Peng story. Lian Xinda calls it "arguably the most controversial image in the text, which has been inviting conflicting interpretations for the past seventeen centuries." The character for peng (鵬) was anciently a variant Chinese character for feng (鳳) in fenghuang (鳳凰 "Chinese phoenix"); Kun 鯤 originally meant "fish roe; fry; spawn": both the mythic Chinese Peng and Kun names thus involve word play. Lian concludes the Peng is "An inspiring example of soaring up and going beyond, the image is used to broaden the outlook of the small mind". But the whale in the sky of our dramas is somewhat puny for a full-fledged peng and even for a kun that should reside in the northern deeps until it shapeshifts to fly to the southern deeps, and its role as auspicious omen is perhaps much reduced, although reminding us that indeed, we should look beyond the electric shadows.

I expect to continue watching this drama to completion, as there are ten episodes remaining, but I probably will leave this 3/4 review as is. I like this drama, although it seems to polarize watchers between those who can't stomach Li Qin and Allen's often clashing interaction. Allen's special tone of voice does not agree with all (I even heard an unkind comment that he delivers like reading from a teleprompter with no emotion! I don't agree with that: he pronounces clearly but is more composed, while portraying a timeless general, than the over-enthusiastic Li Qin.) The chemistry is certainly more discreet than in Allen Ren's One&Only/Forever&Ever duology, but the script is weird in slicing away at situations where the couple might be united in peace away from interruptions. Nevertheless, the CGI and cinematography is nice and I'm still interested in the story. It can be watched by everybody younger or older who has a liking for adventure stories.

*) Chinese Fire Sticks (from URL: https://able2know.org/topic/367413-1)
"China saw the invention of the first matches in 577. Northern Qi court ladies needed to start a fire for cooking and heating. They were unable to gather tinder, due to enemy troops blockading their city. So, they used pine tree needles coated with sulfur. They used embers to ignite the coated needles which in turn were used to start a fire.

These were so essential that in 950 AD Tao Gu, a poet and official from the Song court, described the technique for making these sulfur-coated pine needles and called them light-bringing slaves. Later these early matches were commonly known as fire-inch sticks.
~~~ Skipping in time. Here is my take on the fire stick that ignites when you blow on it.
1) Collect pine resin, melt it and mix it with sulfur.
2) Collect urine, then let it sit in an open container for a week. Add some finely-powdered charcoal, then boil until a white waxy substance is produced (white phosphorus).
3) QUICKLY, pour the liquid pine resin and sulfur mix into the white phosphorus and charcoal. Mix well.
4) Put into a reed/bamboo tube and cap tightly.
When needed, blowing on it will cause the white phosphorus to burn. This will ignite the charcoal and sulfur. They will ignite the pine tree resin which will burn for quite a while."
-----------------
Post scriptum. Now that I completely watched this drama, I must admit some of the later episodes were a bit draggy. The ancient Shu part was too predictable, and yes, the antagonist was just waiting to be beaten again, leaving another antagonist in his wake to finish the drama with some sacrifices. Since this was an adventure and humans were to be the winners over evil, some happy ending was introduced with the reunion of Gu and Bai Shiqi, although kiss and flowers romance was not there either. Shiqi, athough still swearing her love for Gu remained whole, looked more attracted to her new chosen profession. Likewise, despite the pretty red-dress formal marriage between DengDeng and Lu Yan, there was still not to be much touchy lovey-dovey tenderness, since a more important task needed to be tackled. Thereafter there was "a year" during which the bespectacled Lu Yan aide A'Xin disappeared together with the general. Had he also sacrificed for his master?
In the last pictures from the drama, DengDeng's worried face changes to a smile when she spots someone wearing the boots and the face of Lu Yan (is it him, a look-alike or...?) adjusting a pair of spectacles to his breast pocket . This LuYan has a more relaxed expression in the fleeting appearance before end credits than in his previous ones as stern general.... The ending thus leaves an opening that can either be filled by the audience's own imagination that Lu Yan finally became more ordinarily human, or who knows, there were plans for more episodes or a season 2? But I prefer the first solution.

Given the draggy part, the sometimes annoying features of the script, that had the leads stay almost polar opposites in rashness and restraint, the still annoying side characters (Gu improved somewhat but Dahai suddenly was cured of his alcohol induced shapeshifting and DD's stepfather remained over-the-top meddling) ,and some only parly resolved situations, I will change my overall rating to 8.5 I still found some parts interesting to rewatch and can still recommend it to those who do not crave for chemistry and romance but like mysteries . But Thousand Years For You will not remain for me among the most satisfying dramas that I watched in 2022, only one that I found entertaining while also making me dig for information.

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The chemistry is there, just lack of romance story

This drama in my opinion is in okay level, because I'm still enjoying this drama and just do some skipped (not that much), the story actually interesting, but it's more into adventurous story rather than a romance. For me the story is so good until eps 23, but after that it goes downhill, I was expecting more romance after their confession, but they're entering another adventurous plot. The LY's vice general story is too long (almost 10 eps) and too many conversation than action on it, which is so bored (I did many skipped in here)

Many people said there's no chemistry, but on me, the problem is not in the chemistry because I did feel the chemistry between the leads, I could feel the sparks of their love from their eyes. As if there's no chemistry because the story is lack of romance, the romance parts are so minimalize, even the minimum barrier romance movement fr LY, for ex caressing ydd's cheek wasn't there), like the team just focusing on the plot plot plot, their adventure story, rather than the romance (when our expectation with title "Thousand Years For You" is a romance thing and so xianxia thing), also the xianxia that they made was more focusing on mysterious, solving problem with LY + villain ZR's great power, rather than a melodramatic xianxia, LY n YDD's love story through millenia. I can say that the story is not what I expected.

Anddd so manyy plot holes, so many deleted scenes, so the editing felt so messy. So many romance scenes got deleted (they're on the trailer, video promotion, bts and daipai, but they're not seen in the finalization). Actually, even RJL himself said, he liked many parts that in the end were not finalize on the drama. The biggest hole for me is when YDD suddenly in love again and accepting LY as her husband when she's angry and refusing him, around eps 18, I'm sure, the team deleting something.

For the acting, I did feel a litl bit disappointed, but after understanding more about LY's character and fr RJL's interview, I forgive him. He said LY was a difficult character, he's an overbearing, a calm and a composed man, also didn't have exaggerated and outgoing personality, so he could only use expression with minimum movement, which is make us feel that his acting is so stiff (not RJL as usual). For YDD many people said she's annoying, but I don't think she's that annoying, because out there, there're so many female leads that more annoying than her (LY and YDD's acting's effect also influenced by their dubbing)

And for the dubbing. LY and YDD are like a contrast, north pole and south pole, one is too flat who is LY and one is too powerful who is YDD. The dubbing really influencing their acting quality. With the minimum movement of LY and RJL's flat dubbing, his LY character becomes stiffer, not natural, as if lack in emotion. RJL's dubbing in modern dramas are acceptable, but for historical drama he needs to do more, need to improving, he needs to gives more attention to his vocal's power and intonation. Also with the powerful voice fr YDD, it makes YDD more exaggerated. It's okay, both are not professional dubber and actually they tried their best and they're challenging themselves, so I'll wait for their improvement.

Conclusion, we're cheated by the title and the genre that they mentioned. The title is so romance and they said it's also romance, but we can only see few of their romance. I think Thousand Years For You needs to change the genre to adventure, mystery, and not romance. Take a note, I still do enjoying this drama, because I love fantasy and solving thing, so I was always curious for what would happen next, just disappointed with the lack of romance story. Also how the team making this drama as if in hurry, it could be seen from the editing quality, plot holes, many deleted scenes. Btw, the ost and their costume reallyy gooddddd..... I love all the osts and I love every costume that LY and YDD wore.

Ren Jialun and Li Qin really look so good together, their visual really outstanding. They deserve to reunite again with a better script and better team :")

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Expect more

Because of leads i had decided to watch the drama . By reading synopsis i hoped the story would be cleared . First of all i found the chemistry between the lead was poor ,I mean there was no romance . Male lead in the whole drama had shown the same type of expression s.
Even since strating i had never felt that he actually love her.Because three thousands years ago story they were been together because she helped him in the war . Then they separated in the war ,During war he was died and she saved him by giving her core energy and then she realised she loved him . She vanished after transferred her energy to him . Then he looked for her spirit in order to give the core energy back to her . So this had been cleared that it was not love it was just a favour may be . After 3000 years when he found her at that time he was not sure the girl he had found was the one he had been looking . The girl had fallen in love with him . Love at first sight something like that . Then when he realised that the girl was the one who was he looking ? Still no sign of love from his side . Then he always been around her. Afterwards he said her that she was the one whom he liked . This statement had shown that since starting he liked her . This confused me alot . There were so many scenes of them but zero romance ,she was the only who all the time flattering with him ,tease him and did fun with him but from his side same boring expression.
Story was good but execution was failed according to me.

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I am so angered!

Why are the writers in China destroy a story in the last episode? OMG! I mean c'mon writers get it together. I watched 40 episodes to not see what I wanted to see. At least you didn't kill them off. But seriously, this is not the first time you all ruined it for me. I will still rate it at a 10 because of Ren Jia Lun and Li Qin. Ren Jia Lun who played Lu Yan and Li Qin who played Yu Deng Deng absolutely played their parts with perfection! I loved the fantasy, the martial art, and the visuals all were done awesomely. Thank you to the team and I hope enough of us complain about giving the fans a great ending. This ludicrous. We are already so many bad things out in the real world, we need to see something positive.

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Simplesmente maravilhoso!

Esse é tanto o meu segundo c-drama republicano quanto histórico, algo que foge do que estou acostumada. Os tradicionais rom-com chinês.
Inicie pelo elenco e estou me surpreendendo bastante. Posso ficar o dia todo elogiando, os personagens são bem contruidos. Logo no início são bem caricatos, o que rendeu muitas risadas.

Até agora a história está bem fluída e evoluindo. Os episódios têm boa transição te fazendo querer maratonar. Os efeitos, essenciais para qualquer fantasia não são perfeito. Mas não sinto falta de uma pós-produção maior. Fico bem imersiva e são bem bonitos.

As OST's são perfeitas e lindas. A cada momento que elas tocam fazem sentido o que não é tão comum (eu acho!), pois quando as músicas começam no meio do episódio é corta clima (muitas vezes).
São realmente bonitas!

Torcendo para continuar até o final com qualidade. E concluir essa bela história.

Ahwn! Não sou do time de reassistir, mas até agora é completamente um drama pra entrar na lista dos reassistidos

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Beautiful story even without a kissing scene

nice story, even without a kiss
I just love this drama so much
acting was on point
the plot was engaging
Ost is supereb
no cheezy or cringey scene
not the regular stories either
Allen Ren killed his role
All actors nailed their role really
The endings was more of an opening-ending but I personally don't mind it
should I expect a second season? I don't know but I hope there will be sometime in the future
I almost gave up on this drama because of negative reviews
but goodness I love this drama so much
advice to future watchers
don't hesitate, watch the drama with an open mind , just give it a shot

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The story was not as romantic as the title.

I start with what I liked from this drama :-

1) While the story got draggy in the middle of the drama when they were investigating worm case but the story in the second half about the secret of Ancient Shu Town and Wei Du's backstory were pretty interesting.

2) The acting of the female lead, Li Qin . It was my first time watching her acting and she was good .I started this because of Allen Ren but I was mesmerized by her acting instead. Her acting was more heartfelt and genuine than the male lead. The acting of other supporting characters also good.

3) The humor in this drama was totally my type! People in Qingquan Stronghold provide good comic relief. I laughed alot while watching synergy between Dengdeng and her favourite side kicks, Dahai and her uncle. They were my favourite side characters.

4) ML & FL had exquisite change of costumes that further enhanced their looks. Allen Ren looks dashing in those dark color suits + those chains on his front. Same goes with Li Qin, she looks beautiful here.

5) Great and addictive OST. I loved the opening song , I by Allen Ren and the ending song You're My Only One by Lu Hu the most.

What I did'nt like about this drama :-

1) It really hurts me to say this . My biggest problem with this drama is Allen Ren's acting. I have so much to say about this. His perfomance in this drama was a total let down. I felt like he did not go all out with Lu Yan not like he did as Chang Yi , Zhousheng Chen. To me, he looked uncomfortable everytime he was required to be in scene together with FL ,that made me felt uncomfortable while watching them too. Its like there's this invisible barrier he placed between him and Li Qin whenever they were together. Like he do not like her as a person and can't wait for their scene to be over. Previously, I love Allen because of his excellent facial expressions in acting. He had good chemistry with his co-stars in his previous drama . He is one of the actor who has a beautiful smile to me, a reason why I was smitten with him in the first place. I love his sultry calm voice when he was delivering his lines. Even when he rarely kiss in his drama ,all the other qualities I mentioned compensated what he lacked in romance department. I saw those qualities in TBW, O&O and FAE but here not so much....

2) For a drama with romance as its driven factor, the romance in this surely was disappointing. TYFY had little to non-existent chemistry between main leads. Only in the second half I see an improvement but only slightly. Tbh, Li Qin had better chemistry with 2nd ML, her uncle, Dahai and with the whole Qingquan Stronghold's subordinate than with the ML but I know it was not her fault because I can see her trying but it won't work if only one party was trying hard while the other, not doing so much. I felt like the ML was not into FL like she was to ML. When FL tried flirting and teasing him enthusiastically, either he brushed it off like it did not happened or responded to her half-heartedly. Poor Dengdeng... I felt like the ML only took her in as a responsibility not as a lover. I really don't know what to blame here, the shallow script or the poor characterization or the weak direction.. maybe all three ?

3) It was annoying to see the ML always keeping his hands in the pockets . He always did that whether he was standing still or walking . You rarely seen his hands out except when he's doing magic things with his hands because he need them out to do that lol . Maybe the purpose was to make him look cool but it was just too much .


Overall, although the romance lacked so much but the other good aspects of this drama made me stayed. I'm not sure if I want to recommend this to someone maybe watch this if you like the leads.

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Waste of time

In the beginning ( episode 8) ML for completely selfish reasons is actually trying to kill the totally innocent SL who has fall in love with him . Afterwards, viewers should then forget about it and believe that he is a "good guy" and that SL still loves that selfish and murderous jerk. I think it's absolutely ridiculous.
ML's character is boring and actor's bad performance and total lack of charisma makes it even worse - the result is a faceless wax-statue walking around in his silly boots.
SL's is supposed to be intelligent and badass girl and Li Qin delivers that nicely. Later ( apparently to emphasize her love with ML) , her character is changed to be a silly and scared little girl. It seems completely strange and ruins the only interesting character in this drama.
There is no chemistry between main leads and when they have scenes together it feels like being in Madame Tussaud's wax museum and watching a lively and beautiful girl to flirt jokingly with a wax-statue.

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FINALLY ITS END.

I thought it's gonna get better as story near the end. But....still disappointed with the development. Overall it's great to watch if you fans of both leads. Bit surprised I finished it with 1.5x speed, cause I love Li Qin acting. if the story get boring I tend to dropped, but the leads save the entire story.

The CGI, one of the aspects of the fantasy drama. The thousand for you is the drama with the fantasy genre I thought it's gonna give me surprised but as the episode goes it's getting funny, especially one of the scene in the ep 36 when the inner Yunxi had a fight with black saintess .

WHY SHE ROLLING AND KEEP ROLLING.....LOL. Its supposed to be serious scene, but turned out to be the comedic one.

As rewatch value, I don't recommend anyone to rewatch this. If you fans both of leads, maybe you can endure the pain watching the storyline goes downhill.

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